For Immediate Release
ASQ Brings Quality To Association Leaders At Inaugural Nonprofit Quality Forum
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 4, 2007 — The American Society for Quality (ASQ) has partnered with ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership and the Association Forum of Chicagoland to convene the first Nonprofit Quality Forum. Leaders from across the association community will take part in the event, Wednesday, September 19, in Chicago, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“A key to organizational performance excellence in the nonprofit and association sector lies in an systematic approach to enterprise management,” said Paul Borawski, executive director and chief strategic officer of ASQ. “This meeting provides the chance for nonprofits and associations to look at the Baldrige model of excellence and the phenomenal results other organizations are getting by using enterprise management and then explore ways to start their own journey to excellence.”
More than 40 association leaders are expected to attend the day-long event. Attendees will hear from well-known quality leaders such as E. David Spong, retired Boeing CEO, who led two Boeing divisions to the winners' circle for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
The Nonprofit Quality Forum is the next step in ASQ’s commitment to introduce quality methodologies to the association community. In 2005, ASQ took the lead role among a coalition of supporters to establish and secure funding for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award nonprofit category. The support for the nonprofit category came in the form of an increase of $1.5 million in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) funding. This year, for the first time ever, nonprofit organizations – including charities, trade and professional organizations and government agencies – were eligible to apply for the nation’s highest presidential honor for quality and organizational excellence.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is presented annually by the president of the United States to organizations that demonstrate quality and performance excellence. For more information on the Baldrige Award, visit http://www.quality.nist.gov/.
"ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership are so pleased that associations are now eligible to apply for the Baldridge Award,” said Susan Sarfati, president and CEO, The Center for Association Leadership and executive vice president at ASAE. “We greatly appreciate ASQ's efforts in assisting associations in the new and complex process.”
“The Association Forum is honored to join ASQ and ASAE & The Center to support excellence in the association community,” said Gary LaBranche, CAE, president and CEO, The Association Forum of Chicagoland. “The inclusion of associations in the Baldrige award, recognizes the positive contributions associations provide to our society and economy.”
ABOUT ASQ
The American Society for Quality, www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 93,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.
ABOUT ASAE AND THE CENTER FOR ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP
The Center for Association Leadership is the premier provider of learning, knowledge, and future-oriented research for the association profession. The Center delivers innovative learning experiences, performance-enhancing resources, new thinking and models for the profession, opportunities for peer-to-peer collaboration, and strategic tools and data designed to advance the association profession. Offerings include nearly 100 professional development programs through Center University, environmental scanning and other future focused research, a peer –reviewed journal, and more than 5,000 online articles, models, and case studies. Together, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership provide resources, education, ideas and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association community. Visit
www.asaecenter.org.
ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION FORUM
The mission of the Association Forum of Chicagoland is to "advance the professional practice of association management." Founded in 1916, the Forum serves 47,000 association professionals whose efforts in turn serve more than 37 million members and generate $11 billion in annual expenditures.
