OuttaDeeBox Podcast
OuttaDeeBox podcast is a pre-recorded bi weekly show geared towards supporting former and current inmates and their families in Wisconsin. Our mission is to inform listeners about community resources that can assist them in securing employment opportunities, housing, mental health and substance abuse support, with the goal of reducing recidivism in Wisconsin. We also give listeners and guests the opportunity to share their unique inspirational stories through spoken word and other forms of musical artistry.
OuttaDeeBox Podcast
Educational Pathways to Empowerment with Sedrick Page
What does it take to truly empower underserved communities and create lasting change? Join us as we uncover the inspiring journey of Sedrick Page, the Chief Operating Officer for the Black Men Coalition Foundation. Cedric opens up about the foundation's groundbreaking $25 million employment housing project in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and the innovative employment services designed to provide holistic support for job seekers. We delve into transformative initiatives like the free youth baseball program and the eCornell certificate program, which offers college-level courses to community members earning under $70,000 a year. You'll gain valuable insights into how these efforts are building stronger communities, creating sustainable housing, and opening doors to new opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals.
In addition to these powerful community initiatives, Sedrick also emphasizes the benefits of pursuing multiple certifications, even for those with advanced degrees. Imagine upgrading your skills in diversity, equity, inclusion, project management, and law with just a five-hour weekly commitment over eight weeks. Sedrick sheds light on the supportive resources available that make these programs accessible to all, including laptops, Wi-Fi, and in-person instruction. We wrap up with a heartfelt message of positivity and gratitude, thanking Sedrick for his invaluable contributions and expressing our anticipation for his future endeavors. Tune in for an episode filled with actionable ideas, inspiration, and a vision for a better tomorrow!
What's up everybody. This is your host D-Star here with.
Speaker 2:Cedric Page Cedric.
Speaker 1:Page how you doing man.
Speaker 2:I'm doing real good, brother, real good.
Speaker 1:Man, it's always a treat to have you here and bestow upon us the game, the keys.
Speaker 2:You know, I like my keys.
Speaker 1:Absolutely For the people that don't know you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2:My name is Cedric Page. I am the current chief operating officer for Black Men Coalition UW-Madison graduate, st Mary's University graduate school. I have three children Jaden, olivia and Kiera. I'm a Rotary Club member of downtown Madison and always seeking to be an impactful person in the community.
Speaker 1:Since the last time you've been on the show. Can you kind of catch us up? What, what you been up to?
Speaker 2:Again working with industrial and commercial manufacturers in the automation, robotics and electric motor space managing us myself team there, space managing my sales team there and just recently made the transition over to Chief Operations Officer for Black Men Coalition Foundation, which is a nonprofit here in the Madison area working with underserved communities, formerly incarcerated people. Our initiative was to help Black men of color ie the name, but Black Men Coalition Foundation I want to say it's for everyone Black, red, puerto Rican, haitian, caucasian. We're here to help the community and be impactful in the community. We're hoping to build a $25 million employment housing out here in the Sun Prairie area, which will transform this community. We're not interested in the Sun Prairie area, which will transform this community. We're not interested in doing it the old way, like low income housing. That's really nothing we're interested in. We're interested in creating community, creating support and creating a pathway for people that are low income and underserved to become homeowners and to become taxpayers out here in the Sun Prairie community, which again lowers crime, which has complete impact here. Also, through Black Men Coalition Foundation, we have employment services and we're not your typical employment service company because once we train the applicants that come to us, if you're not familiar with interviewing. We help you If you don't have a resume done. We help you If you don't have clothing. We have suits, ties, shirts. We have dress for you. We go over etiquette. We make sure that we put you in situations where you can win, and the employers that we work with guarantee a wage of $20 at minimum and up. So, again, creating spaces where you can have a livable wage. But what we also do is support you for a year. If your car breaks down, we pick you up and get you to work. If you're having issues with management, we go in and we advocate for you on both ends. We want to make sure that you're successful. We want to make sure that you're successful. We want to make sure that you show up and we want to make sure that we create a space where you can be the person that you want to be in terms of earning what you want and being able to take care of your family.
Speaker 2:We're currently coming to the end of our youth baseball, which is the only free youth baseball program here in the state of Wisconsin, if I'm not mistaken, in the Midwest. So this is something that we're seeking to promote all over the US. But we got to take care of home first. So we want to extend this out to Milwaukee, extend this out to Chicago. We're definitely going to be looking for donors and sponsors of youth baseball for next year. We can get your logos out, but again, we're definitely going to be looking for donors and sponsors of youth baseball for next year. We can get your logos out.
Speaker 2:But again, we provide everything for free, including food. There's hot dogs, there's chips, there's water. That's free for all the participants and their parents. All the uniforms, the gloves, the hats, the helmets all of those things are free. So this is a 100% free service that was put together by our CEO, mr Corey Marino, and I want to give a shout out to Corey for being an impactful person here in this community, who had some setbacks coming up, made some bad decisions, and is out here in the community redefining himself as an impactful person and as a leader and as a CEO, and I feel blessed and privileged to be a partner of his and to be working with him to push the organization to the next level. Very happy to be here Again.
Speaker 2:The main reason we're here is because of the eCornell free certificate program that Mr Corey Marino is collaborating with Cornell University, which is an Ivy League college on the East Coast on the same level as a Harvard, to offer college level courses and certifications to underserved community members here in the Madison area that earn under $70,000 a year. So these are free courses. I'm going to state again free courses that anyone in the community that fits that parameter can apply to. You just have to be 17 at minimum, you have to have a GED, you have to be able to write, read, do mathematics at minimum. We do ask that you write a impact statement stating why you want to be a part of the program. We send out a test just to make sure that you can do what you say you're going to do. But again, we support you and I'm sure we'll get into that a little bit in the conversation, but very happy to be here and talking about this eCornell initiative.
Speaker 1:This eCornell initiative, I feel, will really change the trajectory of the formerly incarcerated community, which impacts the community as a whole. Some of the certificates that they offer is data and science, analytics, diversity, inclusion, finance and business performance, hospitality and food service, maintenance, human services, law, leadership and strategic management, marketing, project leadership and service design, real estate and technology. It's really a game changer when you think about someone that's formerly incarcerated coming home and trying to find their way and to have an option to get a certificate from a Ivy League school on their resume. A slight time, I'm sorry, I'm just getting really emotional about this because I just think there's so many people that it's going to help and impact.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is.
Speaker 1:You know, I wish that some of my friends and family that's been impacted had this opportunity. I know so many people that I know so many people, man, that has so much potential yeah and they went to prison for drugs and they went to prison for various reasons, but I always just told my man you know, this person could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves yeah they're just selling the wrong product.
Speaker 1:But they could sell anything. You could sell that. You could sell anything. If you had one of these certificates and you you had the right product to sell to get your foot in the door, you could be very, very successful. You never have to do that again. You know what the Black man Coalition has done with this. Partnership with Cornell is just simply amazing.
Speaker 2:Thank you and let me state that you know we recommend you take one certificate program at a time, but you can take as many as you like. So I'm going to get certified. I already have my undergrad, I already have a graduate degree, but I'm still adding keys, quote, unquote to my tool belt. So I'm taking a certification class now in diversity, equity and inclusion. I'm also going to be taking a project management course. I'm also going to be take the legal course, the law course that you and I discussed earlier. So again, you can take multiple, get multiple certifications. It takes about In total eight weeks to get that certification and it amounts to about five hours a week in work. So once you register let's say diversity, equity and inclusion there's four different classes underneath that title that I have to take and each one of those classes are two weeks each. That's where the eight weeks or two months come from. Are two weeks each. That's where the eight weeks or two months come from. So you're going to have to put the time in, but I work during the day. I'll come home in the evening, let's say at nine o'clock, and I'll do the work. I'll put my hour into it. Right On the weekends, on Saturday or Sunday. I'll put two hours in Saturday morning. I'll put another two hours in on Sunday. That gives me enough time to complete the coursework, to participate, to make sure that I'm finishing and moving forward.
Speaker 2:Now, let's say, life isn't exact. There's things that may happen, so we can actually put a class on hold for you. If there's something that happens where you can't complete it, you just have to communicate with us and we can make those adjustments for you. Again, you can take this class at home if you have a laptop and a computer. But let's say you don't, right. Let's say you're, you're homeless, you just got out, you don't have any money, you don't have all these things. Then you can come down to one picnic street, which is right next to the BMC offices, which is at 5 Pinney, and you can come into the classroom. We provide free Wi-Fi, we provide the laptops, we provide the headphones and we also provide the instruction. So if you need someone to push you along, answer questions for you, to make sure that you're successful as you take these classes, we're available to you and the times that we're available to you are from 9 am to 8 pm, monday through Thursday, and we're available on Fridays from 9 to 5.
Speaker 2:So again, there's no reason why someone that wants to move forward in a job, why someone who just recently graduated from high school but doesn't have the money to go to college Right, but still wants to be educated, wants to get a key, that person can still take this certificate program and give themselves a skill that will help them earn great money. Keyword a livable wage that you can take care of your family. If you're already working, you're a recent college graduate or you've been working in your field for a number of years, you want to move up, right, you want that HR job. You want that accounting position where there's accounting classes, certificate programs that you can take to help you move forward in your current position.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, it really hits home Every single time I hear about this. Even when I first heard about it, I said, wow, man, that is so impactful and it is something that it just came out of left field that you wouldn't even think about like doing that type of partnership. Because, you know, the first thing that you would think about on a partnership like that, it would be like UW, but this is like 10 steps ahead of the UW. No, no, no disrespect to UW, but you know, because it's a great school on Wisconsin.
Speaker 2:I'm a graduate Right.
Speaker 1:But this is a different level. You know what I mean. Like you can go anywhere in the country and say, hey, I have the certificate from Cornell University and it's respected.
Speaker 2:And let me stress, because I got this question in a class what's the value? The value is the certification. The certification is not a degree, but it's a valuable certification that says you've taken the time, you've taken this class and you're certified in this particular discipline.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't understand that before you get a degree, you have to take certifications within that degree. So you know, somebody might go to college and be like I'll take myself. For example, I have a degree in audio engineering but there are certifications within that degree that I had to take so I can complete that, right, but you're circumventing the actual degree and getting the certification. So it's just as good as saying it, understand it, and you've done the same work and you're on the same level to get that certification. So why? Even you know what I mean. Like I'm not saying I'm not. You know I'm not saying that don't go to college, right? I'm not advocating for that, but I'm saying that if college is not for you, if you don't have the capacity right now to spend two, three, four years to go to college, why not get the certification?
Speaker 2:I agree, totally Like for me. I just got an associate's from Madison College because I wanted it in STEM, science, technology, engineering, math. Well, guess what you can get a certification in through E Cornell STEM, science, technology, engineering and math is available for you Also finishing another post-bachelorette certification at Madison College. Again, that's going to cost me about $5,000 when it's all said and done to finish right, but this is a certification after I've gotten my undergraduate degree. Well, guess what's on the same level as that post-bachelorette certification? The E Cornell certifications that I get through the E Cornell Collaboration with Black Men Coalition Foundation. It's the same thing.
Speaker 1:So how do I sign up?
Speaker 2:How do you sign up? What I will tell the audience? To go to the Black Men Coalition website. When you go to the website, you click on what's the website? Wwwbmcorg. Make sure you go there. When you go there You'll see a dropdown. You click the dropdown. You'll see programs. Once you click on programs, you'll see eCornell has its own link. So if you click on eCornell, it'll explain the program to you.
Speaker 1:It'll say we're working with Cornell to help you develop the skills you need to excel. And then you just scroll down and then you'll see explore certifications and then it has a list of all the certifications right now that's available. You click on that and explore.
Speaker 2:If you don't see anything there that you think is of value to you, that doesn't mean it's not necessarily offered. What I would do is reach out to us at Black Men Coalition so we can sit down and have the conversation. Go on your phone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just give them a call and it's 608-590-9525.
Speaker 2:Yes, please give us a call, or you can feel comfortable sending Laura an email at laura at bmcdcorg, or you can feel comfortable sending me an email to cedric S-E-D-R-I-C-K at bmcdcorg as well. Laura is over the program, so I would ask that you email her directly and she can answer any questions that you may have about the program. But if you're on our website and you find something that you like or that you see, scroll all the way down to the bottom and you'll see a link that says register now. Click on that. That'll take you to the eCornell portal. Once you get on that portal, you'll see drop downs for all the classes. I recommend that you click on something that you're interested in and you look at the classes underneath it that go into those classes and I guarantee you'll find something of interest to you.
Speaker 2:Now here's the caveat to the certification program. Like for me, right? I'm taking diversity, equity and inclusion, so I have four classes that I'm currently taking. So now, at the end, what the portal will also do is tell you other programs that the classes that I'm taking qualify for. So again, you can get certified in multiple disciplines. So now, once I finish this certification program, there may be another one or two certifications I can get and I don't have to take these four classes anymore. Now all I have to take is two classes in order to finish the certification, because I've already taken the classes on the previous one. So again, it builds on top of each other.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and before we get out of here, can't go any further without you giving us some keys.
Speaker 2:Keys are certifications, things of value, knowledge, degrees, jobs, skills that you can add to your skill set, your resume, to your life, that you can put on, call it, put it on your tool belt. That opens doors for you. That opens doors for more earning. That opens doors for elevation in your job. That opens doors for intellectual elevation, elevation as a parent. Keys, keys to success.
Speaker 2:I would leave you with this If you're going through any kind of struggle, any kind of strain, remember that out of struggle comes great reward, out of struggle becomes enlightenment. So you're only in a place temporarily. All I ask you to do is focus on yourself. Keep pushing forward, never give up. Take advantage of the opportunities that are laid out in front of you, like the E Cornell Certificate Program, like working with Black Men Coalition Foundation to help you get a job.
Speaker 2:Never think that your circumstance or your past decisions define your future. They don't define your future. You decide who you are, you decide who you become, but you have to make a commitment to that change. It can't be borderline. You can't say I want to better for myself, but you're drinking every day and you're blowing and you're coming into an interview like that that tells me you don't, your actions aren't matching what you say that you want.
Speaker 2:So we want serious minded people to come in for the help and make sure you're ready to get there. If you're not, guess what we can help you with that we can help get you there. So there's not a place where you're at that we can't assist you. And one thing I love that Corey Marino says all the time is sometimes we have to meet people where they are and we're willing to meet you where you are to help you reach your dreams. So that's my key right now, and the other key is going to be E Cornell Take advantage of this free I stress free program and take advantage of Black Men Coalition Foundation to help you be successful for housing, for employment, for youth services, for your kids through our youth baseball program or just through mentorship, coming up having a conversation with any of us in the office to help push you forward. I send all of you blessings, I send all of you love and I send all of you success.
Speaker 1:Well, Cedric, thank you so much. We really appreciate you having you on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Always, my pleasure to be here and look forward to my next invitation.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I'm D-Star Until next time, guys.
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