Big Y Appoints Sheffield Woman as New Marketing Leader

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Big Y Foods has appointed Sarah Steven of Sheffield as senior director of marketing. 

In this new capacity, Steven will oversee all aspects of marketing across the company’s brands of Big Y World Class Markets, Big Y Express Gas and Convenience, Fresh Acres specialty market and Table & Vine wines and spirits. As such, she will lead the marketing team to further develop the brand's digital initiatives, including programming to support the launch of e-commerce. Her work on the brand will ensure that Big Y continues to grow its customer base within existing markets as it expands to new regions in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

"I am excited to dig in with the talented team at Big Y, to bring new concepts and ideas to the table, and to enrich the beloved Big Y brand with initiatives that will ensure its position as a leader in the competitive supermarket industry," Steven said.

Like her predecessor, John Schnepp who has retired, she reports to Guy McFarlane, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Throughout Steven's marketing career, she has worked to support and develop global brands distributed through a variety of channels – supermarkets, department stores, boutiques and spas, as well as online through e-commerce. She started her career with Pepperidge Farm as an assistant marketing manager in 1998 working on their flagship Goldfish brand. She later moved to Godiva Chocolatier, where she led the global re-launch of core product lines and was promoted to the position of business director, marketing, partnering with in-house stakeholders to drive promotions, develop advertising campaigns and media strategy. 

In 2008, Steven joined Iredale Mineral Cosmetics in 2010 as director, brand advocacy to focus on building brand awareness and brand equity for the growing company. She was promoted to vice president of marketing in 2012 and expanded her team to support growth initiatives and distribution expansion opportunities, as well as innovative digital-first initiatives including a Loyalty Program, eLearning curriculum, innovative social media and digital advertising strategies.

Steven holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Duke University-Fuqua School of Business in Durham, N.C. She has received industry awards for her leadership such as the Campbell Soup Company CEO Extraordinary Performance, Godiva Chocolatier Proud Performance Awards as well as Godiva North America’s President’s Award. 

Steven lives in Sheffield, Mass., with her two children.


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Pittsfield Families Frustrated Over Unreleased PHS Report, Herberg Slur Incident

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Parents are expressing their frustration with hate speech, bullying, and staff misconduct, which they said happens in Pittsfield schools. 

Community members and some elected officials have consistently advocated for the release of the redacted Pittsfield High School investigation report, and a teacher being placed on leave for allegedly repeating racist and homophobic slurs sparked a community conversation about how Pittsfield Public Schools can address injustices. 

The district's human resources director detailed the investigation processes during last week's School Committee meeting.

"People are angry. They feel like when they spoke up about Morningside School, it was closed anyway. They feel like they speak up about the PHS report, and that's just kind of getting shoved under the rug," resident Brenda Coddington said during public comment.

"I mean, when do people who actually voted for all of you, by the way, when does their voice and opinion count and matter? Because you can sit up here all day long and say that it does, but your actions, or rather lack of action, speak volumes."

Last month, School Committee member Ciara Batory demanded a date for the 2025 report's release to the public.

Three administrators and two teachers, past and present, were investigated by Bulkley Richardson and Gelinas LLP for a range of allegations that surfaced or re-surfaced at the end of 2024 after Pittsfield High's former dean of students was arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly conspiring to traffic large quantities of cocaine in Western Massachusetts.

Executive summaries were released that concluded the claims of inappropriate conduct between teachers and students were "unsupported." Ward 7 Councilor Katherine Moody countered one of the unsupported determinations, writing on Facebook last week that she knows one person can conclude with confidence and a court case that pictures of the staff member's genitalia was sent to minors. 

"During this investigation, we sought to determine the validity of allegations about PHS Administrator #2 sharing a photograph of female genitalia with PHS students on her Snapchat account," the final executive summary reads. 

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