Rod Baxter

Rod Baxter
Rod Baxter

Principal
Value Generation Partners

Principal of Value Generation Partners, Rod is author of Operational Excellence Handbook and the SUCCESS Series of handbooks. In his career, he has led operational excellence, transformation, and value generation journeys with small organizations to Fortune 500 global companies – representing service, health care, manufacturing, and higher education. Through these experiences, he traveled the globe, facilitating improvement initiatives with colleagues and teams in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and the Americas. As a Value Generation Partner, Rod is a workshop facilitator and content specialist.

Key areas of experience include:

  • enterprise and operational excellence
  • process and breakthrough improvement
  • culture and enterprise transformation
  • strategy deployment and cascading KPI scorecards
  • lean and six sigma methodologies
  • design for lean and six sigma methodologies
  • project management discipline
  • value stream mapping and management
  • problem solving
  • waste elimination and cost reduction

Rod holds a bachelor’s of science degree from Kent State University and an MBA from the University of Akron, and has these earned professional certifications:

  • Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute
  • New Product Development Professional from the Product Development and Management Association
  • Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt (MBB) from the International Society for Six Sigma Professionals
  • Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality
  • Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence from the American Society for Quality

He is a distinguished alum of Kent State University’s College of Technology, published guest writer to Quality Progress magazine, and has served as a member of the board of examiners for Ohio Award for Excellence and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

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Arbor Day Foundation Logo

One important aspect of our mission and business is publishing writing journals. While we believe whole-heartedly in the transformational power and positive ripple effects of journaling, we are acutely aware of the impact of the publishing process. Our commitment is to not simply offset the natural resources expended in the course of our mission, but to contribute to a healthier planet in a multitude of ways.

We are honored to be an official Corporate Partner with the Arbor Day Foundation, supporting its global mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees. We participated in Arbor Day Foundation’s successful initiative to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities worldwide by 2022, sponsoring 5,000 trees initially with a commitment to continue our contributions in the future.

To learn more about this important mission and how you can get involved, visit www.arborday.org

Journal for Change

Journal for Change® (JFC) is a 501(c)(3) that brings the transformational practice of journaling to organizations and communities through education, outreach and philanthropy efforts. Along with journal donations, JFC works directly with non-profit leaders and program directors to offer workshops that support growth, well-being, meaning, and success - all facilitated by certified coaches and subject matter experts.

Journal for Change® began as a philanthropic and pro-bono initiative created by Purpose Journey® Founder Lisa Gruenloh. As a company, Purpose Journey® has donated thousands of journals to youth programs, nonprofit and children’s hospitals, recovery programs, domestic violence shelters, leadership programs, and more. In order to have a more significant impact, Lisa has transitioned the Journal for Change® initiative into a not-for-profit organization.

Journal for Change®(JFC) is seeking individuals and organizations who share our passion for this mission and want to contribute to the exciting foundation. To learn more about becoming a Founding Patron or explore collaboration opportunities, please contact Lisa at lisa@lisagruenloh.com.

Blue Zones Project

Purpose Journey® began collaborating with Blue Zones Project (BZP) when this powerful community well-being initiative was launched in Southwest Florida in 2015. Our Founder, Lisa Gruenloh, serves as a strategic partner on the BZP Leadership Team and is a founding purpose workshop facilitator. In that role, she has guided thousands of community members to connect with their unique gifts and experience deeper meaning and fulfillment in life. Lisa also has served on numerous expert panels to share well-being and resilience tips with Southwest Florida residents, including special outreach events following the devastation of Hurricane Irma in 2017. When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person outreach, Lisa stepped up to fund and produce a 10-part video series, Journaling through the Blue Zones Power 9, to address the growing need to help people become more resilient amidst increased anxiety and the impacts of isolation. With expert content from then-Executive Director Deb Logan, the series has been shared in our local community and also across the more than 70 Blue Zones projects nationally.

We are proud to work among hundreds of incredible community partners – worksites, homeowner’s associations, restaurants, public agencies, non-profits and faith-based organizations - who make such an important and measurable difference in the health and well-being of our community, and helped Southwest Florida become a Blue Zones Certified Community in 2022!

Learn more about Blue Zones Project and access the many valuable resources at southwestflorida.bluezonesproject.com.

David Lawrence Centers

As a DLC Community Partner, Purpose Journey® is honored to work alongside the organization’s dedicated professionals to promote mental health and well-being throughout the Southwest Florida community. Our Founder, Lisa Gruenloh, contributes regular articles to the DLC Mind Your Mind newsletter, offering relatable and practical tools for navigating life’s challenges with resilience and improving mental fitness and emotional intelligence in ways that led to reduced stress, healthier relationships and higher levels of meaning and fulfillment. In addition, we donate writing journals and offer monthly workshop programs alongside DLC counselors in support of the Collier County Adult Drug Court - a nationally-recognized program overseen by the Honorable Janeice Martin, a judge for the Collier County Court in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit of Florida. (Read more about the program here: Local Drug Court Team: One of the Nation's Best | David Lawrence Centers) We also participate in numerous community outreach activities and sponsor fundraising and awareness events, such as the Annual DLC Advocates Sunset Cruise for Mental Health.

To learn more about services and resources available through David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health visit: www.davidlawrencecenters.org.