The new Six Sigma sisterhood

Joy Mason, owner of Optimist Business Solutions, was concerned with the inequities she saw both in the professional world and the community at large. In the aftermath of George Floyd, she considered ways she could make a difference for women and the Black community. Mason had earned her Six Sigma Black Belt from Purdue University while working at Lilly. She decided she could share this knowledge and these opportunities with other women who looked like her. Thus, the Six Sigma Racial Equity Institute (SSREI) was born in 2021. Cohort members share a laugh while completing their coursework. (Photo/SSREI) SSREI is “an innovative leadership program designed to upskill Black women and Black Latinas to be complex problem solvers,” according to the organization’s website. Six Sigma is a method of improving processes to increase profit and customer satisfaction, according to the International Six Sigma Institute. With origins in manufacturing, the goal of Six Sigma was to reduce defects in production. Members of each SSREI cohort participate in a class taught by a master Black Belt and receive coaching from Black Belts to guide them in completing a community project using their new skills. “Becoming Six Sigma certified can be an effective way...