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Meet our Subject Matter Experts
[SME]

Our volunteer Subject Matter Experts (SME) are individuals with expertise in business and nonprofit business processes and functions.  Many are sought out by others interested in leveraging their unique expertise to solve specific problems or help meet particular technical challenges. Our volunteer SME’s provide facilitation, consulting, and training free of charge through the Institute.

Sue Bunton

Sue Bunton is a human performance specialist with a track record for achieving organizational excellence and the development of peak performance models for organizations.
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Steven Cox

Steven is a consultant with extensive global leadership experience leading large organizations with strong subject matter expertise in process excellence, project management and process & system assessment.
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Vic Figurelli

Victor F. Figurelli retired from the Shell Chemical Company in 1995. His career included assignments in product applications, technical service, sales, marketing, and product planning. His final position at Shell was Quality Management Consultant.
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Ashley Kees

Ashley Kees has spent his 30-year professional career with 3M in operations management including leadership positions such as Global Manufacturing Director, Plant Manager, Lean SixSigma Black Belt and Product Development Supervisor.
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Kirk Kriegel

Kirk is passionate about helping people and organizations find and fulfill their God-given mission. He is well versed on using the Baldrige Criteria for Business Performance Excellence & has served on the Board of Directors of a number of Non-Profits
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Ray Langlois

Ray founded Langlois Consultant Services, LLC, to work with Nonprofit Organizations to build capacity and sustainability, develop long-range and strategic planning and create leadership development.
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Kelly Lester

Kelly Lester is the past President of Lestex, Inc. where she specialized in using the Baldrige framework and ISO 9001 criteria to achieve client excellence focusing on practical, efficient implementation with heavy emphasis on training.
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Bob Novello

Bob Novello is the President of Fastrack Training, Inc. where he designs, develops and conducts professional development classes, and provides consulting and facilitation services.
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Santos Marino

Santos is a Facilities Maintenance Manager who works with The City of Austin to direct the activities of maintenance personnel
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Tony Perez

Tony Perez is a Quality team leader. Results driven professional in cross-functional groups, development, and deployment.
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Dale Ricklefs

Dale Ricklefs was involved in quality initiatives between 2000 and 2005 when she served as the Quality Manager and strategic planning lead for the City of Round Rock.
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Dr. Ronald Swain

Dr. Swain is a servant-leader and social entrepreneur, who formed Swain Consulting Services, LLC (SCS) in 2013 after a forty-plus year career in higher education administration.
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Peggy Lee Pleasant

Peggy Lee Pleasant, MBA,PMP has been a Malcolm Baldrige examiner through QTF for the last seven years. She has worked with the City of Austin for over twenty-one years, with the majority of that time at Austin Energy.
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Sam Zigrossi

Sam J. Zigrossi is executive level Performance Specialist/Consultant w/ significant skills and experience in Human Resource Management, Organization Performance and Development and Leadership Training and Development.
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Sue Bunton

Sue Bunton is a human performance specialist with a track record for achieving organizational excellence and the development of peak performance models for organizations. She is a Certified Harless Peak Performance System Analyst and Trainer and is certified in Behavioral Interviewing. As a Human Resources Manager for a high-tech multi-national corporation she has experience integrating processes, systems and technology to support human performance. Performance Analysis and Improvement Microsoft – Managed or was an analysis team member for projects in five separate divisions:- Competitive analysis (Linux threat), product evangelism, service excellence initiative, enterprise solution sales, human performance focused job descriptions and hiring guides, original equipment manufacturers re-organization Caterpillar – Apprentice program design and training systems integration Exemplary Performance LLC and Saba, Inc. – Trainer for Harless Peak Performance Systems ZiaTech – Human performance systems and acquisition readiness Human Resources Management Training and Development Program Initiatives focused on quality improvement, effective selling, customer service, and remote personnel management Project Management – new information technology systems Compensation – field sales Professional Development Programs for Human Resources Manager Mergers, Acquisitions, Reorganizations Due Diligence – Human Resources Change Management Integrations Strategies Performance Support Sue has been the President of S.T.E.P Performance since 1997. S.T.E.P. looks at systems, technology, environment and people to help organizations optimize organizational effectiveness. The key is to identify and replicate exemplary accomplishments (outputs of value that contribute to organizational goals), the criteria that define the value, the behaviors that produce the accomplishments. S.T.E.P. is a member of an established network of certified organizational analysts using the award-winning ABCD System. S.T.E.P employs an integrated, holistic model that provides a framework for understanding and enabling exemplary performance in any organization. Sue has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Tech University.

Steven Cox

WHO AM I…
Steven is a consultant with extensive global leadership experience leading large organizations with strong subject matter expertise in process excellence, project management and process & system assessment
WHAT I DO…
Lead organization through systematic process and systems reengineering by utilizing back office lean, benchmarking and traditional business process improvement methods with a focus on delivering exceptional bottom line results
HOW I ADD VALUE…
• Reengineering processes to eliminate non value added steps, reduce obstacles to ensure adherence to desired process time frames.
• Build strong teams that work well together.
• Deliver bottom line results through organizational restructuring and process optimization.
• Develop high potential personnel from within the organization to support sustainability of strategic initiatives.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
• Process improvement and optimization
• Systems assessment, development / deployment
• Process outsourcing
• Team and relationship building
• Personnel development
• Leading Change

Vic Figurelli

Victor F. Figurelli retired from the Shell Chemical Company in 1995. His career included assignments in product applications, technical service, sales, marketing, and product planning. His final position at Shell was Quality Management Consultant. In that assignment, he advised and guided Shell Chemical’s Leadership Team, Shell Oil corporate leaders, and other senior managers throughout the Shell system in developing and implementing Baldrige-based strategies for improving performance. Vic also was responsible for communicating Shell Chemical’s performance improvement policies and initiatives to key stakeholders.

Vic conducted numerous workshops and seminars on quality management and the Malcolm Baldrige criteria for Shell’s international and domestic management, customers, and suppliers. He designed and coordinated internal assessments based on the Baldrige criteria. He also developed and managed Shell Chemical’s “Champions of Quality” recognition program for individuals and teams who made significant contributions to Shell Chemical’s business performance.

After retiring from Shell, Vic continued to consult and to conduct workshops on the use of the Baldrige Model to assess and improve an organization’s management system for performance excellence. His clients and audience have included business, non-profit, government, health care, and education organizations. Vic has conducted numerous workshops and seminars on Organizational Excellence. He has also facilitated strategic planning sessions, primarily for non-profit organizations.

Vic was on the board of examiners for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program in 1990 and 1991, the latter year as a senior examiner. He played a key role in starting up the Texas Award for Performance Excellence program, which has fielded more winners of the national award program than any other state. He served three years on the first Quality Texas board of overseers and then on the panel of judges from inception of the state award process until 1999. Vic returned to the Quality Texas Board of Overseers, serving as Chair from 2001-2003. He also participated on Quality Texas examiner training teams from the award program’s inception through 2004. He also designed and delivered for Quality Texas orientation workshops for organizations new to the Baldrige model. For his contributions to Quality Texas, Vic was recognized in 2004 as a Quality Texas Foundation Fellow. Vic also served on the advisory board for the UT Center for Performance Excellence.

Vic was a faculty member of the National Graduate School, an accredited institution offering an accelerated master’s degree in quality management. He taught a course on the Baldrige Model from 1996 –2004. He also taught a course on nonprofit management at Southwestern University in Georgetown.

He has been active in community service and has been recognized for his efforts several times. He was vice-president and president of Senior University Georgetown, a non-profit organization dedicated to life-long learning for people 50 and over, from 1999-2004. He served on the Senior University Board again from 2015-2018, during which period he served as president in 2015 and again in 2018. He was on the Board of Directors for the Georgetown Partners in Education from 2001-2005, serving as Chair in 2003-2004. He still mentors for GISD. He served on the Board of the Georgetown Symphony Society. Vic also served on the Board of Habitat for Humanity Williamson County for six years, nearly three of which as Chair. Vic was recognized in 2011 by the Rotary Club of Georgetown as a Paul Harris Fellow and in 2012 by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce as Citizen of the Year for his community service. Vic currently serves on the Board of A Gift of Time Adult Day Care, an organization that will offer all-day care for seniors with dementia.

Vic is the Founder of the Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits, an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits learn and apply principles of excellence.

Ashley Kees

Ashley Kees has spent his 30-year professional career with 3M in operations management including leadership positions such as Global Manufacturing Director, Plant Manager, Lean SixSigma Black Belt and Product Development Supervisor. Ashley’s career is highlighted by a proven leadership track record, in depth operational knowledge, and broad industry experience. His industry experience includes a broad range of industries from electrical construction to electronics to consumer goods to health care to automotive. Ashley has significant skills and experiences in managing business and supply chain process including safety & environment (OHSA/DEQ audits and safety policies & processes), supply chain (customer service, inventory turns, warehouse operations), plant engineering (uptime improvement, capital expansion, facilities management); supplier management (supplier selection, supplier reviews, contract negotiations), Lean Six Sigma (hopper management, Lean processes, Six Sigma tools), human resources (performance reviews, wage surveys, and opinion surveys), and new product development (market research, technology development, product positioning, stage gate reviews) Ashley has enjoyed working with non profits. He has served on the Board of Directors for United Way of Chihuahua (Mexico) and the Girl Scouts of St. Croix Valley (MN) as well as an Assistant Scout Master with the Boy Scouts of America. He looks forward to helping non profits in the future since his retirement in April 2020 Ashley’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and an Executive MBA Development Certificate from The University of Texas at Austin.

Kirk Kriegel

Kirk and his wife, Laurie, have been married for 37 years and have two married children and one grandson, two granddaughters. He is a native of Austin and has served for over 27 years as an Executive Pastor for churches in Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas and is currently the Vice President for Business Operations at Children At Heart Ministries in Round Rock. (It is the non-profit over the Texas Baptist Children’s Home, STARRY, Miracle Farm (Brenham) and Gracewood (Houston). www.childrenatheartministies.org Most recently, he served from 1999 through 2009 as the Executive Pastor at First Baptist Church Georgetown, and for 4 ½ years was the Lead Consultant with US Leadership, Inc. where he coached companies and their executive teams in organizational excellence. In this role he helped organizations shape their culture, put strategic visions in place, worked with interpersonal issues, built teamwork, aided in financial decisions, and helped increase the organizations’ bottom-line. He is also an adjunct professor at Concordia University in Austin where he teaches in the evening Spirituality in the Workplace, Life and Leadership and Leadership Theory and Practice. Kirk is passionate about helping people and organizations find and fulfill their God-given mission. He is well versed on using the Baldrige Criteria for Business Performance Excellence and has served on the Board of Directors of a number of Non-Profits in Williamson County and Georgetown. He is currently serving on the Board and as a Subject Matter Expert for the Williamson County Institute of Excellence for Non-Profits and Chairman of the Board for 2018-2020. He is also on the Board of a new nono-profit, Solid Pastoral Coaching. He and his wife are also active members of Austin Baptist Church where he teachings a young couples class and serves in other capacities. Kirk has a BBA in Management from Baylor University in Waco and a Masters of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. His personal life purpose statement is, “To love God with everything and to invest my life in my wife, family and others to influence the culture for Christ.

Ray Langlois

Ray founded Langlois Consultant Services, LLC, to work with Nonprofit Organizations to build capacity and sustainability, develop long-range and strategic planning and create leadership development. He worked as a Consultant facilitating the East WilCo Collaborative/LifePark Center and Coordinator of the WilCo Wellness Alliance to improve health and wellness through building strategic relationships and improving systems. Prior serving with the Health District, Ray was the Coordinator of School Health and Wellness in Leander ISD for the last eight years prior of a33-year career in education. Ray was the coordinator of the Wellness Alliance, working on many projects with the capable staff of the WCCHD such as the 2016 Community Health Improvement Plan, the Alliance Strategic Plan and its Working Groups, the Health Summit and building relationships with community partners and the Health District by attending meetings and events throughout WilCo and Travis County. He completed working with a group of interested partners to build a $9 million community resource center in Eastern WilCo (Taylor), leading a regional collaborative in the area and working with various agencies such as the St. David’s Foundation who have interest in East WilCo. Most recently, he served from 1999 through 2009 as the Executive Pastor at First Baptist Church Georgetown, and for 4 ½ years was the Lead Consultant with US Leadership, Inc. where he coached companies and their executive teams in organizational excellence. In this role he helped organizations shape their culture, put strategic visions in place, worked with interpersonal issues, built teamwork, aided in financial decisions, and helped increase the organizations’ bottom-line. He is also an adjunct professor at Concordia University in Austin where he teaches in the evening Spirituality in the Workplace, Life and Leadership and Leadership Theory and Practice. Kirk is passionate about helping people and organizations find and fulfill their God-given mission. He is well versed on using the Baldrige Criteria for Business Performance Excellence and has served on the Board of Directors of a number of Non-Profits in Williamson County and Georgetown. He is currently serving on the Board and as a Subject Matter Expert for the Williamson County Institute of Excellence for Non-Profits and Chairman of the Board for 2018-2020. He is also on the Board of a new nono-profit, Solid Pastoral Coaching. He and his wife are also active members of Austin Baptist Church where he teachings a young couples class and serves in other capacities. Kirk has a BBA in Management from Baylor University in Waco and a Masters of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. His personal life purpose statement is, “To love God with everything and to invest my life in my wife, family and others to influence the culture for Christ.

Kelly Lester

Kelly Lester is the past President of Lestex, Inc. (consulting firm) where she specialized in using the Baldrige framework and ISO 9001 criteria to achieve client organizational performance excellence focusing on practical, efficient implementation with heavy emphasis on training. From 1991-2001, at Ericsson (Telecommunications) Inc., Lester became a key participant in their TQM, Quality Management System / ISO Certification, Internal Audit, and Process Management initiatives. This included being on their Baldridge Application writing team. She was promoted to Division Manager, Operational Management Systems, in1998, and Corporate OMS Manager in 2000.
Kelly has also done Quality consulting with other organizations such as Sprint and NISH. She is recognized for implementing business process (value added) internal auditing. She is a past RABQSA Lead Auditor, Senior Member of the American Society for Quality, Dallas ASQ Membership Chair, and for 9 years served the Texas Quality Foundation as a Senior Examiner, feedback writer, mentor, trainer, and process observer.
Currently, Kelly volunteers at R.O.C.K.(non-profit, Ride On Center for Kids), Horse Handling and Side-walking, in addition to assisting with strategic planning and use of the Baldrige Criteria to effect process improvements in all areas.
Vic conducted numerous workshops and seminars on quality management and the Malcolm Baldrige criteria for Shell’s international and domestic management, customers, and suppliers. He designed and coordinated internal assessments based on the Baldrige criteria. He also developed and managed Shell Chemical’s “Champions of Quality” recognition program for individuals and teams who made significant contributions to Shell Chemical’s business performance.
After retiring from Shell, Vic continued to consult and to conduct workshops on the use of the Baldrige Model to assess and improve an organization’s management system for performance excellence. His clients and audience have included business, non-profit, government, health care, and education organizations. Vic has conducted numerous workshops and seminars on Organizational Excellence. He has also facilitated strategic planning sessions, primarily for non-profit organizations.
Vic was on the board of examiners for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program in 1990 and 1991, the latter year as a senior examiner. He played a key role in starting up the Texas Award for Performance Excellence program, which has fielded more winners of the national award program than any other state. He served three years on the first Quality Texas board of overseers and then on the panel of judges from inception of the state award process until 1999. Vic returned to the Quality Texas Board of Overseers, serving as Chair from 2001-2003. He also participated on Quality Texas examiner training teams from the award program’s inception through 2004. He also designed and delivered for Quality Texas orientation workshops for organizations new to the Baldrige model. For his contributions to Quality Texas, Vic was recognized in 2004 as a Quality Texas Foundation Fellow. Vic also served on the advisory board for the UT Center for Performance Excellence.
Vic was a faculty member of the National Graduate School, an accredited institution offering an accelerated master’s degree in quality management. He taught a course on the Baldrige Model from 1996 –2004. He also taught a course on nonprofit management at Southwestern University in Georgetown.
He has been active in community service and has been recognized for his efforts several times. He was vice-president and president of Senior University Georgetown, a non-profit organization dedicated to life-long learning for people 50 and over, from 1999-2004. He served on the Senior University Board again from 2015-2018, during which period he served as president in 2015 and again in 2018. He was on the Board of Directors for the Georgetown Partners in Education from 2001-2005, serving as Chair in 2003-2004. He still mentors for GISD. He served on the Board of the Georgetown Symphony Society. Vic also served on the Board of Habitat for Humanity Williamson County for six years, nearly three of which as Chair. Vic was recognized in 2011 by the Rotary Club of Georgetown as a Paul Harris Fellow and in 2012 by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce as Citizen of the Year for his community service. Vic currently serves on the Board of A Gift of Time Adult Day Care, an organization that will offer all-day care for seniors with dementia.
Vic is the Founder of the Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits, an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits learn and apply principles of excellence.

Bob Novello

Bob Novello is the President of Fastrack Training, Inc. where he designs, develops and conducts professional development classes, and provides consulting and facilitation services. Bob is also the Executive Director of the Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits, Inc., a pro-bono organization dedicated to helping nonprofits learn and apply principles of excellence. He retired from the University of Texas in March 2010 where he was the Director of The University of Texas at Austin Professional Development Center from its inception in 1998.
Formal education includes a BS in Physics from St. Joseph’s University (Philadelphia), graduate studies in Mathematics at Ohio State University, and MBA studies at the University of Dallas.
During his 16-year career with UT, Bob developed and conducted professional development training classes; developed and conducted Baldrige classes for the UT Center for Performance Excellence (UTCPE); and developed and conducted safety classes for the Texas Mine Safety and Health Program. As Director of the PDC for over 10 years, he managed managers, developed and implemented strategic plans, and controlled a $3M budget.
During his 23-year career with Sun Oil Company, Bob’s varied positions have given him the opportunity to manage technical teams; manage a marketing function; manage projects; manage a systems development group; and conduct management, leadership, and project management training.
Training experience includes developing and/or conducting people management, project management, time management, performance counseling, continuous improvement, process mapping, problem-solving, strategic planning, effective presentations, train-the-trainer, teamwork, and safety seminars. His knowledge and understanding of project management and business processes makes Bob’s business consulting and facilitation services quite popular with training clients.
Baldrige experience includes serving on the UTCPE Examiner Team, the UTCPE Panel of Judges, and the UTCPE Advisory Board; and serving on the Quality Texas Examiner Team.
Bob currently serves on the Boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Georgetown and the Boys & Girls Club of Central Texas.

Santos Marino

Santos is a Facilities Maintenance Manager who works with The City of Austin to direct the activities of maintenance personnel who are responsible for performing general maintenance work on city buildings, facilities and grounds. Santos has conducted several LSS projects for the City of Austin to improve efficiencies and reduce cost to tax paying citizens. He has served in several roles over an eight-year span with the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program as a Senior Examiner, Feedback Writer, Team Lead, Process Coach.

Santos is devoted to assist organizations in their continuous improvement efforts, helping them to build sustainability in their operations, and provide them with clear steps forward by utilizing the Malcolm Baldridge Framework for Performance Excellence.

Santos has supported and assisted The City of Austin’s Performance Excellence journey of a sound management system and toward more maturity in building and implementing effective, systematic approaches that lead to positive results and trends that are important to The City of Austin’s long-term success.

Santos is a certified Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt, Senior Baldridge Examiner.

Tony Perez

Tony Perez is a Quality team leader. Results driven professional in cross-functional groups, development, and deployment. Malcolm Baldrige examiner and program implementer for a $6.5b organization. Leverage organizational performance improvement, quality engineering, supplier development, and project management expertise.

Dale Ricklefs

Dale Ricklefs was involved in quality initiatives between 2000 and 2005 when she served as the Quality Manager and strategic planning lead for the City of Round Rock. Dale has also formed four nonprofits in Round Rock and has held leadership positions in over 10 nonprofits over the past 37 years. She has applied process and facilitation skills in both government and nonprofit environments. Dale retired in 2010 from the city of Round Rock after 30 years of service. She currently serves on three nonprofit boards and the University of Texas School of Information Advisory Council. She is the 2018 President for Round Rock Arts and serves as the treasurer for the Round Rock Community Choir. She also serves on the governing board of the Baha’i Faith- Round Rock. Her academic background includes: Capella University, business leadership studies, PhD awarded; University of Texas at Austin, Masters in Library Science; and Illinois Wesleyan University, BA, concentration in philosophy, religion, science. Quality based training includes: Quality process improvement, Jan King, consultant; State of Texas/Xerox, process and service improvement training, facilitation training; University of Texas, Engineering Continuing Education, process measurement; and LEAD, University of Virginia, government improvement processes (included quality improvement elements).

Dr. Ronald Swain

Dr. Swain is a servant-leader and social entrepreneur, who formed Swain Consulting Services, LLC (SCS) in 2013 after a forty-plus year career in higher education administration. SCS’s mission is to facilitate individual’s development to achieve their maximum potential and to lead organizations and systems toward performance excellence and to do so with human compassion. Swain joined the Senior Staff at Southwestern University in August 2000 as Senior Advisor to the President for Strategic Planning and Assessment. His responsibilities included serving as the University’s Accreditation Liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In addition to his higher education career, he is a retired clergyman of the Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. A native of Macon, Georgia, Dr. Swain holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA; a Master of Divinity degree from the Shaw Divinity School in Raleigh, NC; a Master of Education degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a Doctor of Education degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In addition, Dr. Swain has completed postdoctoral study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Institute on Educational Management. He also has earned Certificates of Completion from the Society of College and University Planning’s (SCUP) Planning Institute and The Quality Texas Foundation’s Organizational Excellence Examiner Training Program.

With over four decades of experience in higher education administration, he began his professional higher education career in the Student Affairs Division at Duquesne in 1970. In 1972, he moved to North Carolina State University at Raleigh, where he worked as a counselor and area coordinator in residence life and an adjunct member of the faculty. Over the next 20 years, Dr. Swain served in several positions at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, the oldest historically black college in the Southeastern United States. His last position at Shaw was Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Planning. In 1994, he became national director for the final phase of The United Negro College Fund’s Campaign 2000. He subsequently served as the 15th President of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.

Dr. Swain, a community development advocate who strives to create a high quality of life for all people, is active in the First United Methodist Church and the Rotary Club of Georgetown, TX and the Providence Place Board of Directors in San Antonio. He has represented Southwestern University on the City of Georgetown’s Economic Development Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is past Chairman of both organizations. Dr. Swain is past Chair of the Board of Directors for The Georgetown Project, Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County, and Texas Life-sciences Collaboration Center (TLCC) and currently serves as Chair of The Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits. He is also a member of the President’s Advisory Council for the Texas Methodist Foundation.

Prior to relocating to Georgetown, Dr. Swain was active with the Greater Raleigh (NC) Chamber of Commerce where he served on the Buy Local Task Force, the Marshall (TX) Chamber of Commerce where he was a member of the Board of Directors and served as chair of the membership committee, and the Marshall Economic Development Corporation as chair of the marketing committee.

Dr. Swain has been a consultant and evaluator for the United States Department of Education’s Division of Postsecondary Education. He has served as a member of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executive Advisory Council for the International Education Conference, and chairman of the board of directors for the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives, Triangle (NC) Chapter. Previously, he served on National Council for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University. In June 2000, Dr. Swain was honored by his alma mater when he was inducted into the Century Club of Distinguished Duquesne University Alumni. In June 2004, he received the Mount de Sales Academy Career Achievement Award. Swain was the first African American male graduate of the Academy.

In January 2012, Dr. Swain was recognized with the Owen W. Sherrill Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce. This award is presented to persons whose dedication to economic development over a number of years has significantly enhanced the creation of jobs and wealth in the community

Peggy Lee Pleasant

Peggy Lee Pleasant, MBA,PMP has been a Malcolm Baldrige examiner through QTF for the last seven years. She has worked with the City of Austin for over twenty-one years, with the majority of that time at Austin Energy. Currently, Peggy is a Senior Business Process Consultant with experience managing projects and initiatives in the areas of strategic planning, performance excellence, benchmarking, and analytics. She is a native Texan and have lived in Austin over thirty years. With over four decades of experience in higher education administration, he began his professional higher education career in the Student Affairs Division at Duquesne in 1970. In 1972, he moved to North Carolina State University at Raleigh, where he worked as a counselor and area coordinator in residence life and an adjunct member of the faculty. Over the next 20 years, Dr. Swain served in several positions at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, the oldest historically black college in the Southeastern United States. His last position at Shaw was Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Planning. In 1994, he became national director for the final phase of The United Negro College Fund’s Campaign 2000. He subsequently served as the 15th President of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.

Dr. Swain, a community development advocate who strives to create a high quality of life for all people, is active in the First United Methodist Church and the Rotary Club of Georgetown, TX and the Providence Place Board of Directors in San Antonio. He has represented Southwestern University on the City of Georgetown’s Economic Development Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is past Chairman of both organizations. Dr. Swain is past Chair of the Board of Directors for The Georgetown Project, Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County, and Texas Life-sciences Collaboration Center (TLCC) and currently serves as Chair of The Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits. He is also a member of the President’s Advisory Council for the Texas Methodist Foundation.

Prior to relocating to Georgetown, Dr. Swain was active with the Greater Raleigh (NC) Chamber of Commerce where he served on the Buy Local Task Force, the Marshall (TX) Chamber of Commerce where he was a member of the Board of Directors and served as chair of the membership committee, and the Marshall Economic Development Corporation as chair of the marketing committee.

Dr. Swain has been a consultant and evaluator for the United States Department of Education’s Division of Postsecondary Education. He has served as a member of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executive Advisory Council for the International Education Conference, and chairman of the board of directors for the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives, Triangle (NC) Chapter. Previously, he served on National Council for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University. In June 2000, Dr. Swain was honored by his alma mater when he was inducted into the Century Club of Distinguished Duquesne University Alumni. In June 2004, he received the Mount de Sales Academy Career Achievement Award. Swain was the first African American male graduate of the Academy.

In January 2012, Dr. Swain was recognized with the Owen W. Sherrill Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce. This award is presented to persons whose dedication to economic development over a number of years has significantly enhanced the creation of jobs and wealth in the community

Sam Zigrossi

Sam J. Zigrossi is executive level Performance Specialist/Consultant w/ significant skills and experience in Human Resource Management, Organization Performance and Development and Leadership Training and Development. Sam had a 29 year career with a global high technology company IBM, wrote a Personnel Handbook for small and medium sized companies that has sold subscriptions to over 20,000 businesses, worked as a Program Director for the University of Texas for 15 years, has consulted with small and large organizations representing health care, consulting firms, state agencies, and has been a adjunct professor for over 34 years in the school of business at Southwest Texas State University.