The Cuyahoga County Innovation Academy has been thriving with activity, with sessions for Green Belt and Yellow Belt certification over the last few weeks.

The County’s Innovation Academy was founded to help Cuyahoga County employees gain skills to improve programs and find efficiencies in their departments. The training focuses on Lean Six Sigma, project management, organizational behavior, and change management techniques.

Cohort 10 is a group of six county employees who met over the course of three days to complete the Innovation Academy’s Green Belt course.

Held once per quarter, the Green Belt course is an intermediate program where candidates complete the training and then implement an improvement project in their workplace within one year to earn certification.

Cohort 10 recently completed the Green Belt seminar and is starting work on their projects. They are inspired, enthusiastic, and motivated to make change happen.

Congratulations to cohort 10 graduates: Kailey Barnett, Division of Senior and Adult Services; LaTerra Brown, Juvenile Court Administration; Melisa McDaniel, Juvenile Court Administration; Sabine Respress, Information Technology; Sean Esther, Human Resources; and Tamika Pearson, Human Resources. Green Belt seminar graduate Kailey Barnett, Administrative Assistant for the Division of Senior and Adult Services, chose to work on a process improvement project to expand the County’s Division of Senior and Adult Services Community Senior Services Program.

“It’s easy to get assigned a task and just do it without really taking the time to think about it first or create a plan,” stated Barnett. “I believe every county department, not just DSAS, can benefit from developing a plan or process before executing a task so there is a clear ‘start’ and ‘end’.”

Green Belt seminar graduate Stephanie Thornton, Supervisor in the Snap to Skills Department for Job & Family Services said, “I always encourage staff to enroll and complete their Yellow/Green Belt certifications. You’ll learn how to create and recommend real process improvement in your department backed by statistical data.”

Green Belt graduate and soon-to-be certification recipient, Alan Kilgore, IT Administrator for the Cuyahoga County Department of Information Technology stated, “Applying the skills learned in the Innovation Academy (Yellow / Green / Black Belt) classes to one’s own area can lead to increased employee and customer satisfaction while reducing operating costs.”

Employees must take an introductory seminar and become a Yellow Belt through the Innovation Academy before beginning the Green Belt training.

The Yellow Belt certification course is a one-day training that is held every month and is open to all county employees, with permission of their direct supervisor.

Twelve county employees gathered for this first step on September 6th.

Congratulations to: Brooke Deines, Human Resources; Christopher Farroni, Development; Cynthia Sands, Personnel Review Commission; Dan Krause, Child Support Services; Dawn Ramsey, Public Works; Dereck Hymore, Human Resources; John Thomas, Prevention and Early Intervention; Kailey Barnett, DSAS; Liana Zaboura, Purchasing; Reecella Diggs, Purchasing; Tamika Pearson, Human Resources; and Wendy Spears, Child Support Services.