Meet the Board

Jennifer Capps is the Chief Development and Communications Officer for Mason Health. Capps joined the District in 2008 and has been serving as the Chief Development Officer and overseeing the philanthropy, marketing, and communications of the District since 2009. She has a Master of Arts degree in Philanthropy and Development from St. Mary's University of Minnesota and has received several certifications in executive non-profit leadership and management. Capps has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in Studio Art from Hollins University.

In 2022, Capps was elected as Vice-President of Performance Excellence Northwest's (PENW) Board of Directors. She has received a 2021 LifeNet Health Hospital Administration Award in addition she has won four awards from Practice Greenhealth recognizing the District’s Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability efforts, which include a prestigious Greening the OR recognition in 2023. Capps serves on PENW’s board of directors because, in her 30-plus years of experience in the non-profit sector, she appreciates the extraordinary value brought forward for organizations of all sizes and sectors of service. She is proud of PENW’s achievements within the regions they serve!

Maryruth’s healthcare passion has led her to be Director of Quality and Integrity for Cascadia Healthcare. As the previous Executive Director at Mountain Valley of Cascadia, her team  became the first-ever skilled nursing facility to achieve the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2016, the highest level of National recognition for performance excellence. She enjoys sharing her quality journey, encouraging others to achieve performance excellence through continuous improvement and innovation. She holds a Master of Business Administration in Health Care Administration, is a QAPI Certified Professional, 2017 AHCA’s National Mary K. Ousley Champion of Quality Award recipient, and 2019 national recipient of the Baldrige Foundation Award for
Leadership Excellence.

George is passionate about performance excellence and has experienced both personal and organizational benefits of applying the principles of performance excellence and the Baldrige Framework. George served as a community hospital CEO for over 30 years and maintains a special interest in hospitals and healthcare.

I see myself as a highly qualified, experienced and motivated Clinical Laboratory Scientist always eager to utilize my scientific knowledge, research skills, in-depth technical background and collaborative approach through "TEAMwork" within an evidence-based health care delivery system. I saw what many of my colleagues did not see 10 years ago. St. Luke’s is better positioned than many of our peers and other top tier IDNs.

In addition, I am passionate about innovation and leveraging automation in clinical settings to achieve sustainable margins. I have no apologies for my passion.

I am a Visiting Assistant Research Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, where I conduct implementation science research on blood and biotherapies in diverse settings. With over 25 years of experience in life sciences, I have extensive expertise in cell and gene therapies, clinical trial operations, quality systems, and regulatory affairs. I hold a Masters in Healthcare Administration and a Doctor of Public Health degree.

In addition to my academic role, I am the President of Linda S Barnes Consulting, a firm that provides executive consulting and leadership advisory services to life sciences organizations. I support executive leadership, sponsors, and investigators to develop and deliver projects on time, on budget, and with excellence. I also leverage my credentials as a Regional Baldrige Examiner, certifications in Regulatory Affairs and Advanced Biotherapies, and an Assessor for Cellular Therapies to ensure quality and compliance standards are met and exceeded. As a serial entrepreneur, I am passionate and entrepreneurial about creating value for my clients and stakeholders.

John found Baldrige in a training in Tennessee in 2015. Seeing a few excellent organizations who utilized the Baldrige Criteria to improve, John decided to use the criteria to help Pagliacci improve. John has served as an examiner for both PENW and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Serving on the board is a way to help other organizations see how performance excellence can help them.

Bruce is a Seattle-based professional with a wealth of experience in business. He holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Colorado, an MBA from the University of Southern California, and a DBA from Walden University. With over seven years of experience at Microsoft and 10 years of experience in management and marketing consulting, Bruce brings a unique perspective to the table. He is passionate about being of service to others and is dedicated to helping organizations on their excellence journey. Bruce currently serves as a board member for Performance Excellence Northwest, a regional nonprofit that uses the Baldrige Excellence Framework to help companies improve their sustainability. He has also served in multiple roles with NIST's Baldrige Performance Excellence program, most recently as a national judge, and has participated in seven site visits with high-performing organizations.

Joni is passionate about helping good organizations get even better. She was drawn to the Baldrige framework by their focus to provide value added feedback that helps support the continuous improvement mindset. Joni has served on the Board as Secretary and past President. She has been an examiner at both the regional and national level.

Paul has earned a Bachelor of Arts in  Philosophy, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Labor Relations, and a doctorate in Education. In addition to consulting with small businesses, he has taught  accounting courses for over thirty years and negotiated numerous labor contracts as chief bargainer and team member representing both management and union interests. For thirty years he has been teaching business courses in higher education. His dissertation explored the value of using graphic organizers in teaching and learning accounting

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The Baldrige Framework is a consistent systematic method to help organizations reach better successes. I found that each organization that I worked with had a different language and method for writing strategic plans and implementing those plans. The Baldrige Framework gives the next steps to this process and gives every organization a blueprint to greater success. PENW is key in spreading that message and helping others to identify and attain their goals.

I love the Malcolm Baldrige framework and have used it in organizations I’ve run in
the past to help us perform at a much higher level. A few years ago, I contracted with PENW to train 20 of my Spokane County department leaders on the Malcolm Baldrige framework. It worked out very well, and when I was given the opportunity to serve on the PENW Board a couple of years ago, I excitedly jumped at the
opportunity! 

Since 1989, Duane has been committed to economic development through public service and entrepreneurship using Baldrige criteria as a framework for improvement. In 2006, Duane completed Baldrige examiner training and was
recruited to the national America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) accreditation committee, where he served on 17 reviews using Baldrige-based concepts. As State Director of the Washington SBDC from 2014 to 2023, he experienced the challenge of implementing Baldrige concepts during a time of incredible growth and upheaval. He’s a passionate believer that faithfully implementing Baldrige concepts truly does raise all boats and lead to better performance and job satisfaction at all levels of an organization.

I am dedicated to serving on the PENW board because I strongly believe in ensuring that our customers receive the services they need to thrive and succeed. As a board member, I am committed to actively advocating for the customers we serve, ensuring their voices are heard, and their needs are met. Moreover, I
believe in bringing Performance Excellence to life in organizations. Through my role, I aim to drive innovation, foster a high-performing environment, and inspire teams to achieve their full potential. Together, we can create a lasting impact and deliver exceptional results for both customers and their organizations.

My work has been in the water sector for more than 25 years, primarily with Brown and Caldwell. I've had the pleasure to work in many geographies across the U.S., HI, and Guam. My expertise is in facilitating common understandings, consensus and communications strategy and frameworks for advancing improvements for programs and/or in organizations.

One of my specialties is in understanding diverse stakeholder perspectives and finding common grounds for teams to move forward with complex programs, innovations and strategies. Much of my work is in support of communities innovating in new recycled water or renewal programs, one water outcomes, and advancements in strategy to enhance organizational performance, and renewal of brand and customer experiences. 

Theron believes that everyone should have the opportunity to work in a high-performing organization and is passionate about helping organizations achieve performance excellence. Theron has served as the role of Executive Director since 2020 and his credentials include a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA), ASQ Certified Quality Manager/Organizational Excellence (CQM/OE), Board Member of the Alliance For Performance Excellence and is a national Master Examiner with the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP). His job and consulting experience has provided a wealth of knowledge within the business, healthcare, public sector, and educational sectors.