How have the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence helped one of the nation’s largest and most powerful nonprofit lobbying organizations to enhance its performance? Jo Ann Jenkins, chief operating officer of AARP Inc., and past president of the AARP Foundation, participated in the Baldrige Executive Fellows program in 2012.

In the interview below, Jenkins shares key insights and results of her learning through the Fellows Program to use the Baldrige framework to boost leadership practices and her organization’s drive toward excellence.

Baldrige: What are some of the drivers for your participation in the Baldrige Executive Fellows program? How did you learn of this program, and how do you think your participation has benefited AARP?

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