Big Y Appoints Tenneille McFarlane-Smart to Newly Created Role
SPRINGFIELD — The board of directors of Big Y announced the appointment of Tenneille McFarlane-Smart as director of the newly created Project Management Office. As director, she will be responsible for all project activity across all divisions at Big Y, including Big Y Supermarkets, Big Y Express Gas and Convenience, Big Y at Fresh Acres, and Table and Vine.
She will serve as a liaison between Information Resources Technology and all business units to track strategic projects centrally for visibility, prioritization, and resource allocation. In addition, she will provide guidance and support for these initiatives toward timely and successful strategic project delivery. She reports to Michael D’Amour, chief operating officer.
McFarlane-Smart’s work experience expands across many different industries. In 2005, she served as associate project manager supporting new business development for J. Walter Thompson, an international advertising agency in New York City. Two years later, she moved to Voya Financial in Connecticut, where she held several roles, starting as a business analyst lead for Retirement Services IT, then a continuous-improvement change agent by 2013 and, finally, project manager for Retirement Services IT. In 2019, she joined Envision Pharma Group as a senior IT project manager before becoming chief of staff in the office of the CEO from 2021 until the present.
“On behalf of all of us, we are thrilled to welcome Tenneille to our Big Y family,” D’Amour said. “Tenneille’s leadership will be essential to strengthening the governance surrounding our overall project-management process and execution. We are confident in her abilities to launch and develop the Project Management Office as a strategic initiative to better serve our customers, our employees, and our communities.”
McFarlane-Smart holds a BBA from Pace University, an MBA from Bay Path University, and a JD from Western New England University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the state of Connecticut.
She is a certified project-management professional, a credential from the internationally recognized Project Management Institute. She serves on the executive board of directors of the Pathlight Foundation, a nonprofit that supports individuals with developmental disabilities. She also volunteers for the Connecticut Bar Assoc. Pro Bono Legal Advice Clinic.
