While planning and social or community project its important to understand the big picture to be addressed, but as figures 1 and 2 suggest that the day-to-day unfolding of the big picture issues, constitute control points that can be addressed leading to long-term success. Understanding this will inform more innovative and effective objectives and activities. 

For example: Offender X.B. (I can’t share the name due to privacy laws) from Joyceville Minimum (formerly “Pittsburgh Minimum Institution”) shared his release plans with me, which included an plumbing career pathway that was impractical, incomplete and clearly developed with no real guidance (nor understandings). 

Similar cases were found across the Ontario (11) federal correctional sites among black and/or marginalized offenders, the groups with the highest propensity to reoffend (I’m certain I don’t need to share the data that proves this). 

The same survey also found that up to 60% of BIPOC offenders either don’t know about the career developing job opportunities within CORCAN (this is the organization with the Correctional Service of Canada that coordinates employment among offenders).  

At Warkworth Institution (WI, Trent Hills, Northumberland County Ontario) the nearby CFB Trenton base regularly sends some of its heavy equipment to be repaired at the CORCAN. That means welding, heavy equipment maintenance, blueprints and computer aided design, inventory management, procurement and the list goes on. If I went to any employer and could prove I have 5 years of CAD experience using it to work on heavy vehicles from CFB Trenton… I’m guaranteed a good paying job. 

The attitudes of BIPOC offenders clearly showed that they didn’t know this. They understand that all offender-CORCAN employees get paid the same regardless of whether you’re working as a cook, cleaning the bathrooms or doing the “hard a** jobs like what you’re saying sir… so if I’m not being paid more why should I do them?”. 

When I informed them that those “hard a** jobs”  can pay $100k in a few years post release, you’d better believe the next time I visited Warkworth institution 100% of the participants of that particular workshop had applied to work in the jobs I identified, all while attending an employability workshop that was born from qualitative analysis. For me, a black man, to outline this for them, they could now visualize themselves making $100k per annum legitimately. 

Quantitative analysis clearly showed that many offenders did not know what educational necessities exist within trade career pathways and lead to the development of the “Education and Trades” workshop. These innovative knowledge transfer methods ensured an understanding of education and trade career advancement requirements (joining unions, advancing through apprenticeships, applying to post-secondary programs etc.) 

So engaging these offenders, in a way that they understand, was the effective way to affect this control point. Clearly demonstrating the adaptability of the Sigma 6 project management methodology. 

Sigma 6 also helped me point Public Safety Canada’s policy makers in the right direction. Amendments to Commissioner’s Directive 767, the establishment of a DEI advisory panel within the parole board, and better records management for those employed such that they can easily apply for Red Seal certification; all were influenced by our deployment of Sigma Six. 

Sometimes, if you change the way you think about how your processes actually work, by concentrating on what needs to be fixed on a micro you can use the math and data in innovative ways that lead to results on a macro scale. That’s how this project management methodology can be deployed in socio-economic project environments. 

Until next time, 

Aundre Green