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James Athon


Jim Athon is a Continuous Improvement COE leader and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He has had nearly 25-years of success in driving process improvement methodologies, principles, and best practices. Since 2001, Jim has served as the President of The Athon Group, Inc., a premier supplier of Six Sigma training, coaching, and consulting services at all levels of Lean Six Sigma deployment, including Executive Leadership, Champion, Master Black Belt, Black Belt, and Green Belt. He has personally trained and coached over 500 Black Belts and over 200 Green Belts, with his primary focus being teaching the DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) problem-solving framework.

After earning a Master Black Belt at General Electric, Jim has led Lean Six Sigma projects for prominent organizations such as Target, Chevron, Cisco, Nokia, Kraft Foods, Schwab, and Adena Health Systems, and spearheaded over 42 million in revenue gains. He is a catalyst for standardization of processes, digital transformation, technology optimization, and is passionate about transforming inefficient and error-prone activities into lean, efficient, and repeatable processes.

As a Lean Six Sigma expert and trainer, Jim has presented at over 30 industry seminars, as well as coached and mentored over 1,000 Green and Black Belt professionals. His vast experience and unique ability to communicate complex concepts into commonly understood language and relatable examples make him an exceptional coach and mentor.

Jim proudly served for 10-years in the US Air Force Reserve & was honorably discharged as E5 Staff Sergeant.