Joy E. Mason founded Six Sigma Racial Equity Institute in Indiana to make Six Sigma training and certification more accessible.
Six Sigma certification aims to educate individuals in process analysis and outcome evaluation to minimize waste and defects. Certification levels range from basic end-user proficiency to mastery, where individuals serve as senior members in quality control, according to Investopedia.
According to its website, the Six Sigma Racial Equity Institute (SSREI) seeks to make Six Sigma training more accessible for two groups of women who are constantly underrepresented. “Black women and Black Latinas are under-represented in the Six Sigma community because they are commonly under-exposed to this training and its benefits. Six Sigma training is also costly. In addition, the Black community is oftentimes the most harmed by inequitable policies, resulting in low education attachment, poor health outcomes, and high unemployment.”
The SSREI continues, “Our goal is to upskill Black female professionals with Six Sigma green belt training and certification. This training will equip Black women and Black Latinas with the strategies and tools for complex problem-solving in the workplace and the community. We believe that Six Sigma is an ideal method for combining community voice, process thinking, and data analysis to tackle racial inequities across sectors.”
The Six Sigma Racial Equity Institute has announced their fourth cohort. Led by Joy Mason, president and founder of Optimist Business Solutions, SSREI aims to provide Black women in the Indianapolis community with leadership skills to solve community and workforce issues. pic.twitter.com/DtoBiOBZlM— Indianapolis Recorder (@IndyRecorder) April 29, 2024
To that end, Mason talked with the Indianapolis Recorder, a newspaper in Indianapolis that is also one of the sponsors of her program, about what spurred her to create the program and what she has observed since the program’s inception.
Mason noted that the program has so far been a tremendous success, and is an example of what can happen when a serious investment into the careers of Black women is prioritized.
Mason also revealed that her primary source of satisfaction comes from seeing Black women win.
“By creating the Six Sigma Racial Equity Institute, I hope people see that there are innovative and mutually beneficial ways to advance diversity and equity. Our approach is like a rising tide that lifts all ships creating a triple win. Our participants win by gaining additional leadership skills, employers win from the additional capacity that we provide to address equity gaps and communities win because we equip employers to work and serve more equitably. Most of all, I want our Black women to experience professional and personal transformation. The bump in salary from applying their news skills is an added bonus!”
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Source: Black Enterprise
