COLUMBUS, Ind. — IUPUC is partnering with a Marion County initiative to help Black women earn a certification that can be an asset to their careers and the communities where they live.
The university’s Center for Business and Economic Development has partnered with the Six Sigma Racial Equity Institute to help Black women in Indianapolis and Marion County earn their Six Sigma Green Belt certification.
SSREI describes itself as a leadership program created to “upskill Black women to be complex problem solvers.” The institute, which began in 2021, selects a new cohort each year.
One of the program’s goals is to create a talent pipeline of Black women by utilizing Six Sigma Green Belt training. There is also a focus on using this certification to help others. Participants in the program are expected to use their new skillset to respond to inequities that impact the Black community and workforce.
Six Sigma is described as “a methodology used to improve business processes by utilizing statistical analysis.” Different levels of certification are available.
According to IUPUC Assistant Professor of Management and SSREI instructor Jon Padfield — who holds a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt — Six Sigma is a “quality improvement tool” that originated from Motorola in the 1980s.
“Basically, it was a way that engineers were trained to gather data to try and figure out what was causing quality problems,” he said. “Over the years, since the 1980s, Six Sigma has worked into other areas such as health care and government services and things like that. What we’re doing with the Six Sigma for Racial Equity Institute is taking the power of data analysis and problem-solving tools that have been used in industry for decades and starting to apply those to some social problems in the Black community.”
SSREI’s second cohort has just completed its first round of training. All of the students have completed the class and passed a certification exam. The group is now working on five different projects, and coaches are checking in on their progress regularly.
“The cornerstone of this initiative is an equity project that impacts the Black community in Marion County,” SSREI states on its website. “Each participant’s project creates a community of stakeholders, funders, participants, and coaches who are benefiting while giving back. Projects focus on education, workforce, and other critical areas.”
Padfield is coaching a team focused on identifying and eliminating challenges that cause Black students in Indiana to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid at a lower rate than white students.
For the complete story and more photos, see Tuesday’s Republic.
