Women of Color magazine's 2019 President’s Award went to Tonya Berry, vice president of operations performance at Consumers Energy.

Berry is known for blazing new trails, assisting in the development and implementation of the lean operating system that Consumers Energy relies on every day to deliver to customers. As a result of her expertise, and ability to deliver results, Berry became Consumers Energy’s first African American female vice president in 2018.

Berry has over 20 years of experience deploying lean methodologies at Energy Federation, Chrysler, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the last five years at Consumer Energy.

As the vice president of Operations Performance, she is responsible for growing Consumers Energy’s data analytics sector. Lean is a familiar concept to many industries, but it is relatively new to the utility sector. Because of the lean operating system, Consumers Energy is making significant steps at an accelerated pace compared to leading companies.

Berry’s ability to build relationships with the company’s union leaders and workforce has been a key component in shifting the mindset to standardize processes, fix problems, and eliminate waste.

Her accomplishments have led other companies to request the opportunity to visit Consumers Energy to learn and observe its lean operation system at work. Berry’s impact at Consumers Energy has been felt throughout the company.