Tonya L. Berry

Tonya L. Berry is SVP of Transformation and Engineering of CMS Energy Corporation and Consumers Energy Company

With more than 20 years of experience deploying lean and Six Sigma methodologies in midsized and Fortune 500 organizations in several industries, Berry is responsible for implementing the Consumers Energy Way, lean principles, metrics analysis and reporting, in-process standard verification and work management improvement.

Berry joined Consumers Energy in 2015 as a member of the quality team. After briefly serving as manager of strategic initiatives with Massachusetts-based Energy Federation, Inc., she returned in 2017 to successfully lead Consumers Energy’s Lean Office and the company’s adoption of the CE Way.

Previously, Berry served as lean Six Sigma consultant with Michigan-based P.I.L.O.Ts, LLC, an industrial engineering staffing and lean management consulting company. Berry integrated lean Six Sigma methodology and led kaizen workshops to identify process improvements among client organizations, which included CER of Sterling Heights, Mich., L&G Products of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Magna Powertrain of Syracuse, NY.

Berry previously held several increasingly responsible roles with Chrysler, LLC, including industrial engineer and financial analyst in Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant, productivity team lead in its Jeep/truck division and industrial engineering manager in its car/minivan division.

Berry began her career as an operations engineer with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, where she worked with process improvement teams to improve productivity and quality while reducing cost.

Berry was featured in Black Enterprise Magazine’s July 2008 issue and named among Chrysler, LLC’s Leaders of Today & Tomorrow in 2007, and was Black Engineer of the Year’s Modern Day Technology Leader in 2007.

Berry holds a certificate from Lawrence Technological University as a Six Sigma Green Belt/Black Belt. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from Wayne State University.