Florida Sterling Council
The Florida Sterling Council is a Tallahassee-based nonprofit founded in 1992 that delivers Baldrige-derived performance excellence assessments, training, and awards to organizations across Florida and Georgia.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1992
- HeadquartersFlorida, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Florida Sterling Council does
The Florida Sterling Council (legal name: The Sterling Council) is a Tallahassee, Florida-based nonprofit organization founded in 1992 that promotes organizational performance excellence across Florida and Georgia using the Sterling Criteria for Performance Excellence, a framework derived from the nationally recognized Baldrige Criteria. Its core offerings are a tiered portfolio of assessment programs — Sterling Explorer (entry-level), Sterling Challenge and Sterling Collaborative Assessment (mid-tier with site visits), and the Governor's Sterling Award and Governor's Sustained Excellence Award (highest tier, with the latter requiring a four-year renewal) — supplemented by Georgia's parallel Oglethorpe Award program. The Council also delivers training and education services (Examiner Training & Leadership Development, Six Sigma Process Management Series, Sterling Criteria Leadership Series, Sterling Leadership Fellows program), hosts the annual Sterling Leadership Conference (35th edition scheduled June 8-11, 2027), and operates special events (Summer Learning Series, South Florida Summit) alongside content products including the Sterling Visionary Voices Podcast and Sterling Institute for Organizational Learning & Development. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors under Chairman Roland J. Martinez and President Dione Geiger, and conducts its Georgia operations through the Florida/Georgia Partnership with Sterling International providing international perspective.
Florida Sterling Council firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Florida Sterling Council
- Legal name
- The Sterling Council
- Website
- https://floridasterling.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1992
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The Florida Sterling Council is a Tallahassee-based nonprofit founded in 1992 that delivers Baldrige-derived performance excellence assessments, training, and awards to organizations across Florida and Georgia.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Florida Sterling Council industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Organizational Performance Excellence Consulting
- NAICS
- Business Associations (81391), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory (BPAHAFAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- National/State Examination Boards & Testing Agencies (EDADAFAA)
Keywords
Where Florida Sterling Council is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Florida
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Florida Sterling Council business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Organizational Assessments: The organization offers multiple levels of organizational assessments including Sterling Explorer, Sterling Challenge, Sterling Collaborative Assessment, Governor's Sterling Award assessment, and Governor's Sustained Excellence Award assessment. These assessments provide site visits with Sterling Examination Teams and detailed feedback reports. The assessment levels differ in requirements, depth of information, and corresponding feedback received.
- Training and Education Programs: The organization generates revenue through examiner training, leadership development programs, Six Sigma process management series, Sterling Criteria Leadership Series, and other professional development offerings including the Sterling Leadership Fellows program.
- Conferences and Events: Revenue is generated through conference registrations for the annual Sterling Leadership Conference, Summer Learning Series events, South Florida Summit, and other special events.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Multiple assessment tiers available based on organizational readiness |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Florida Sterling Council product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Sterling Council is a nonprofit organization that administers tiered organizational assessments and leadership development programs built on the Sterling Criteria for Performance Excellence (derived from the Baldrige Criteria). It offers assessment programs (Sterling Explorer, Sterling Challenge, Sterling Collaborative Assessment, Governor's Sterling Award, Governor's Sustained Excellence Award, and Georgia Oglethorpe Award), training series, examiner development, the Sterling Leadership Fellows program, and an annual leadership conference for organizations across Florida and Georgia.
Product overview
The Sterling Council is a non-profit organization (also known as Florida Sterling Council) that provides a comprehensive portfolio of organizational assessment programs and leadership development services based on the Sterling Criteria for Performance Excellence (derived from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program). The core offerings include a tiered assessment system ranging from Sterling Explorer (entry-level) through Governor's Sterling Award (highest level), designed to help organizations at different stages of their Path to Excellence. Supporting these assessments are training programs including Examiner Training, Six Sigma Process Management Series, and the Sterling Leadership Fellows program. The organization also hosts the annual Sterling Leadership Conference, regional summits, and produces educational content through the Sterling Visionary Voices Podcast and Sterling Institute for Organizational Learning & Development. Awards include the Governor's Sterling Award, Governor's Sustained Excellence Award, and Georgia Oglethorpe Award for participating states.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Sterling Leadership Fellows: Exclusive leadership development program for aspiring leaders to transform management style and develop impactful leadership skills
- Sterling Institute for Organizational Learning & Development
- Sterling Visionary Voices Podcast
Products and services
- Sterling Explorer Entry-level organizational assessment for organizations developing new management approaches or evaluating their management approaches for the first time.
- Sterling Challenge Mid-level assessment providing a site visit experience with Sterling Examination Teams for organizations accelerating on their Path to Excellence.
- Sterling Collaborative Assessment Collaborative assessment offering site visit experience with Sterling Examination Teams, with differing requirements and depth of information compared to Sterling Challenge.
- Governor's Sterling Award High-performance assessment for organizations with solid approaches, wide deployment, cycles of improvement with innovation, and strong results showing good performance against benchmarks.
- Governor's Sustained Excellence Award Four-year renewal process for Governor's Sterling Award recipients to retain Role Model Designation and sustain organizational agility.
- Georgia Oglethorpe Award Georgia's equivalent of the Governor's Sterling Award for organizations demonstrating performance excellence.
- Sterling Leadership Fellows Exclusive leadership development program for aspiring leaders to transform management style, broaden perspective on performance excellence, and develop impactful leadership skills.
- Examiner Training & Leadership Development Training and consultation services designed to enhance leadership systems, refine process management, and drive overall organizational success.
- Six Sigma Process Management Series Process management training series covering Six Sigma methodologies for organizational improvement.
- Sterling Leadership Conference Annual leadership conference bringing together leaders from Florida, Georgia, and beyond for performance excellence education and networking.
- Summer Learning Series Special event series providing ongoing leadership development opportunities during summer months.
- South Florida Summit Regional summit focused on leadership and performance excellence in South Florida.
- Sterling Manufacturing Business Excellence Award Award program focused on manufacturing organizations demonstrating performance excellence.
Companies that use Florida Sterling Council
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Florida Sterling Council technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Florida Sterling Council partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Florida/Georgia PartnershipcoreThe Sterling Council operates the Florida/Georgia Partnership to deliver organizational assessments and performance excellence programs across both states. This partnership enables the delivery of Governor's Sterling Awards in Florida and Georgia Oglethorpe Awards in Georgia.
- Lee HealthminorSponsor of Sterling Council events and programs. Lee Health is a 2024 Governor's Sterling Award Recipient.
- WellstarminorSponsor of Sterling Council events and programs. Multiple Wellstar facilities have received Georgia Oglethorpe Awards.
- Orange County Public SchoolsminorSponsor of Sterling Council events and programs.
- FPL (Florida Power & Light)minorSponsor of Sterling Council events and programs.
- Sterling InternationalcoreSterling International, led by Chairman Alaa A. El-Halwagy, provides international perspective and expertise to the Sterling Criteria framework.
- Sterling Fellows Program PartnerscoreThe Sterling Leadership Fellows program is an exclusive opportunity for aspiring leaders to develop management skills and drive performance excellence. The program operates at sterlingfellows.org.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Florida Sterling Council competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- American Society for Quality (ASQ): Large national professional membership association for quality practitioners; overlaps with the Sterling Council on Six Sigma training, certification, and quality content, but operates at much larger scale.
- Alliance for Performance Excellence: National network of state Baldrige-based programs; the Sterling Council is effectively a member of this ecosystem and operates the same model alongside ~30 sister organizations.
- Baldrige Foundation (partnership with NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Program): The national umbrella for the Baldrige framework that all state-level programs feed into. Directly comparable as the parent assessment/award program that Sterling Council participants aspire to.
Direct peers
- California Council for Excellence: California's state-level Baldrige-based award and assessment program offering Eureka Award, Governor's Award, and senior leader assessments — virtually the same model as the Sterling Council in a different geography.
- Texas Award for Performance Excellence: Texas's state Baldrige-based performance excellence program that administers organizational assessments and the Texas Award for Performance Excellence. Closest structural peer in a different regional market.
- Arizona Forward (formerly Arizona Performance Excellence): Arizona's state Baldrige-aligned excellence program offering the Arizona Pioneer Award and organizational assessments; comparable in scope and assessment tier structure.
Regional players
- Mid-South Quality (Tennessee) / Excellence in Tennessee Recognition Program: Tennessee-area Baldrige-based excellence program offering assessments and the TenneSEE award; comparable regional peer operating adjacent to the Sterling Council's geographic footprint.
- Lincoln Performance Improvement Council (Nebraska): Nebraska's state-level Baldrige-based performance excellence program; a smaller-scale peer with the same assessment and award architecture in a different region.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks2 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Florida Sterling Council social profiles
Digital presenceFlorida Sterling Council financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Florida Sterling Council leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Florida Sterling Council funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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Florida Sterling Council M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Florida Sterling Council
What does Florida Sterling Council do?
The Sterling Council is a nonprofit organization that administers tiered organizational assessments and leadership development programs built on the Sterling Criteria for Performance Excellence (derived from the Baldrige Criteria). It offers assessment programs (Sterling Explorer, Sterling Challenge, Sterling Collaborative Assessment, Governor's Sterling Award, Governor's Sustained Excellence Award, and Georgia Oglethorpe Award), training series, examiner development, the Sterling Leadership Fellows program, and an annual leadership conference for organizations across Florida and Georgia.
Is Florida Sterling Council a public or private company?
Florida Sterling Council is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Florida Sterling Council founded?
Florida Sterling Council was founded in 1992. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Florida Sterling Council based?
Florida Sterling Council is headquartered in Florida, United States, in the North America region.
How does Florida Sterling Council make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Organizational Assessments are the primary driver. The others are training and Education Programs and conferences and Events.
Who are Florida Sterling Council's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are American Society for Quality (ASQ), Alliance for Performance Excellence and Baldrige Foundation (partnership with NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Program). Direct peers are California Council for Excellence, Texas Award for Performance Excellence and Arizona Forward (formerly Arizona Performance Excellence). Regional players are Mid-South Quality (Tennessee) / Excellence in Tennessee Recognition Program and Lincoln Performance Improvement Council (Nebraska).
Does Florida Sterling Council have an API?
No public API is recorded for Florida Sterling Council.
What industry is Florida Sterling Council in?
Florida Sterling Council's product category is Organizational Performance Excellence Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAFAC, Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory, with a secondary code of EDADAFAA, National/State Examination Boards & Testing Agencies. Its NAICS code is 81391 and its SIC code is 8600.