Baldrige Foundation Recognizes Former Donor Alliance CEO for Leadership Excellence


Sue Dunn, former president and CEO of Donor Alliance was selected as a 2021 recipient of the Baldrige Foundation’s Leadership Awards. Each year, the awards recognize outstanding individuals who embody Baldrige leadership values and principles, and who have demonstrated outstanding service to the Baldrige community and beyond.

“I am thrilled to congratulate Sue on this incredibly well-deserved honor,” said Jennifer Prinz, president and CEO, Donor Alliance. “Over her storied career, Sue’s leadership helped to grow our organization to stand apart as a leader in our field, ultimately saving lives and improving the climate for transplant patients in Colorado, Wyoming and beyond.”

Dunn retired in 2020 after a career that spanned more than three decades. As a pillar in the donation and transplantation community, she made enormous dedications of time and passion to a number of industry organizations. Over the last decade, Dunn led Donor Alliance to top decile performance in nearly all key industry metrics through an organization-wide initiative to improve performance excellence and quality at Donor Alliance on an ongoing basis. As a result, in 2018, Donor Alliance was named a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner, the highest level of nation recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive.

The Foundation’s Awards Program began in 2013 with the presentation of the first Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award at the 25th Anniversary of the Baldrige Quest for Excellence Conference. Since the Program’s inception, three additional award categories have been established: the E. David Spong Lifetime Achievement Award, the Baldrige Awards for Leadership Excellence, which recognize leadership excellence within each of the Baldrige Sectors: Business, Non-profit, Government, Healthcare, Education, and Cybersecurity, and the Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship.

Dunn was formally recognized as a part of the 2021 Baldrige Foundation Virtual Awards Ceremony on April 14.

About Donor Alliance

Donor Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. As the organ and tissue procurement agency for Colorado and most of Wyoming, Donor Alliance serves more than 5.8 million residents and more than 100 hospitals. Donor Alliance adheres to the highest medical, regulatory and ethical standards, and meets every performance standard. By respectfully working with the families of organ and tissue donors, maintaining partnerships with hospitals, educating residents on the life-saving benefits of donation and inspiring them to sign up on the state’s donor registry, Donor Alliance is able to save lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Colorado and Wyoming boast some of the highest rates of donor registration in the country, which directly translates to more lives saved and healed through organ and tissue transplantation. Donor Alliance is one of 58 federally designated organizations of its kind in the United States. For more information visit DonorAlliance.org or the Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages.

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