Michele D'Amour P '93, '98, GP '20, '22, '23

Michele D’Amour, Educational Partnership Administrator for Big Y Foods Inc., retired on January 1, 2019 after 50 years in the family business. Big Y is a family-owned supermarket chain that currently operates 85 stores throughout  Massachusetts and Connecticut and employs over 13,000 people.

Michele started at Big Y as a cashier while working her way through college. A graduate of Westfield State College, MA, she holds a Master’s Degree in Education from American International College, MA. She has had a variety of teaching experiences and has also worked at the college level supervising student teachers.

Over the years, in her role as Educational Partnership Administrator, Michele has been responsible for managing a variety of community educational initiatives, including Kids Count with Big Y and Homework Helpline. Michele has served on many boards and committees over the years and has a long record of philanthropy, primarily focused on education and the arts.

Michele currently serves as chairperson of the board of Pope Francis Preparatory School and has served as trustee at Assumption College. She has served for many years as the Chairperson of the board on the Parent Television Council, a national, non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment.

For several years, Michele also served as a Corporator and Collections Committee member of the Springfield Museums. She has served on the board of the Springfield Diocesan Schools, and as a past member of Chapter 1 Parent Advisory Council, and founding member of her town’s Cultural Commission. Inspired by Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on Faith and Reason, Michele and her husband, Donald, co-founded the Fides et Ratio grant competition for small Catholic Colleges, as well as the on-going Fides et Ratio summer faculty seminars under the auspices of the Faith and Reason Institute in Washington D.C.

Along with the Faith and Reason Seminars, she has demonstrated her commitment to faith, health, education and the arts through many philanthropic gifts, including the Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, The D’Amour Cancer Center, Assumption College, the Community Music School of Springfield, Pope Francis Preparatory School, the Parents Television Council, the Springfield Rescue Mission, Clearway Clinic and Canterbury School. Michele has received much recognition for her philanthropic work including an honorary doctorate of human letters from Assumption College, The National Catholic Education Association’s Elizabeth Seton Award and the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Outstanding Philanthropist Award.

She has been married to Donald for 47 years; they have 5 children and 12 grandchildren.