EC 046: Process Improvement Nonprofit Volunteering

In this podcast, I share a webinar that I gave to the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (as a board member of the Sustainable Development Division). The webinar is titled “Process Improvement Nonprofit Volunteering with Local IISE Chapters” I share some background on our Lean Portland group, and how it is connected to the

EC 045: Lean Startups for Social Change with Michel Gelobter

In this podcast, I share a webinar that I setup with Michel Gelobter, author of “Lean Startups for Social Change“ The webinar is titled “Experimenting Our Way to Meaningful Change” He discusses the Lean Startup approach, and how it can be used to quickly and efficiently improve social, environmental and community issues (homelessness, climate change,

EC 044: Lean Principles in the Building Reuse Industry (BMRA)

In this podcast, I share a webinar that I gave with Matt Horvat of Lean Portland, and Kelly Stevens from The Rebuilding Center. We were asked to talk about our experiences applying Lean to the building reuse industry, which includes work over the past few years with The Rebuilding Center and Habitat for Humanity Restore

EC 043: Lean Six Sigma Successes at Goodwill of the Heartland

In this podcast, I interviewed Jess Schamberger, who is the Vice President of Operations at Goodwill of the Heartland in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Goodwill has a contract manufacturing division that most people don’t know about. She discusses some of the lean and Six Sigma improvements implemented in the donation receiving area, as well as the

EC 042: Process Improvement in the Building Reuse Industry

In this podcast, I read an article I wrote for the Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the recovery, reuse and recycling of building materials. I share my thoughts on how I hope the reuse industry can follow the path of other industries to embrace the concepts of

EC 041: Lean Six Sigma Success in Government

In this podcast, I read an article I wrote for the Northwest Environmental Training Center (NWETC). The article describes past efforts and successes of Lean and Six Sigma applied to government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), municipalities, and state departments. I also talk about four common principles that Lean and Six Sigma use

EC 039: Applying Lean Six Sigma to a Nonprofit Fundraiser Conference

In this podcast, I read my chapter contribution to my latest book called “Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1)“ My chapter is called “Applying Lean Six Sigma to a Nonprofit Fundraiser Conference.” You can also download this chapter as a PDF file or watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xHI_uxbc3g There are 8

EC 038: 2018 Year in Review

In this podcast, I recap the year and highlight some of the things I accomplished in my first full year of consulting on my own. We discuss the Wasted Food workshops, additions to the online course, travel to Kosrae and Trinidad and Tobago, a nonprofit award for process improvement, and the Lean Six Sigma for

EC 037: Lean Six Sigma for Good – Interview with Iowa Lean Consortium Radio

In this podcast, I share an interview I had with Steven Wilson, who runs Zoned Strategies consulting, and hosts the podcast show, ILC Radio. ILC stands for Iowa Lean Consortium, which is a nonprofit organization that promotes Lean, Six Sigma and process improvement within the state of Iowa and surrounding regions. I have been involved