Karen Trisko, President of Leading Excellence, has extensive, hands-on expertise in every aspect of organizational performance excellence. As both an executive and as a consultant, she has led companies to earn Baldrige-based awards and has integrated Baldrige framework and values in private, public, government, and non-profit organizations.

Karen has served as Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Senior Examiner (2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005) and Examiner (2000) and since 1993 in the roles of Judge (2000 and 2002), Senior Examiner (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002), Examiner (1993), Trainer (1995-2002), applicant/award winner with the California Awards for Performance Excellence. She served as the Chairperson of the CAPE Council, the organization that oversees the Baldrige awards program under the auspices of the California Council for Excellence. Karen is former chair of the Sterling Council for Excellence in Orange County, California, and now serves with Colorado Peformance Excellence.

Certified to use numerous assessment, benchmarking, and diagnostic tools, she has a wealth of resources to help clients identify strengths and improvement opportunities within their organizations. With access to hundreds of verified best practice examples, she can recommend innovative solutions to help clients achieve excellence.

Cofounder and previous Executive Director of the Center for Continuous Improvement Technologies, a benchmarking cooperative, Karen concurrently served as Vice President and Executive Director of the California Training Cooperative, which delivered business performance improvement consulting and training services to a variety of businesses.

Karen has also served in the following positions:

• Leadership and Culture Practice Leader for the Aerospace industry's Supplier Excellence Alliance
• Performance Excellence Consultant for Roth Staffing Companies, Inc.
• Director of New Accounts Implementation at Automatic Data Processing Employer Services, Western Division
• Branch Manager for Southern California and Arizona at Equitrac Corporation
• Department Chair and Faculty Member for Marketing and Management at the University of Phoenix, Southern California
• Vice President for Professional Development, Society of Real Estate Appraisers
• Director of Professional Development, American Dental Hygienists Association
• Assistant Director, U.S. Office of Education Midwest Regional Training Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Juvenile Crime Prevention

The recipient of the 2001 and 2003 Award for Individual Performance Excellence conferred by the California Council for Excellence, Karen received a B.S. degree in Organizational Psychology, an M.A. in Organizational Communications, and an M.B.A degree.

She has authored several books and articles, including “The Power of Integrity,” which appeared in Executive Excellence, and Developing Successful Programs: A Handbook for Program Planners. Her latest book is Off the Chart Results, co-authored with Warren Bennis, Margaret Wheatley, James Kouzes, Bob Nelson, and Lorna Riley.

Available on a consultant basis or as Adjunct Senior Vice-President for Excellence, Karen has access to associates, tools, and a wealth of other resources to ensure responsiveness and to follow through on Leading Excellence’s commitment to exceeding customer expectations every step of the way.

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Leading Excellence
Phone: 720.413.9414
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