Full name: Miellette McFarlane
Current title & company: Senior Alliance Manager, EPAM Systems
Brief description of who you are professionally with concise accomplishments: I’m an Oakland, California native and work remotely from Pawtucket, RI as the Sr. Partner Alliance Manager at EPAM Systems, a global technology company. I started my career in technology at Microsoft after completing the full-time MBA program at Georgetown University in 2020. I moved to Providence in 2015 to join Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff. I then worked at the RI Department of Labor & Training as a Grant Adviser for the Real Jobs Rhode Island program, and was then Interim Director before leaving for graduate school. Prior to moving to RI, I worked as an analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in Salt Lake City, Utah. I have a B.A. in Economics from the University of California Riverside and also completed a Global Economics study abroad program in Florianopolis, Brazil.
Why did you join TWToday and what are you hoping to achieve? I joined TWToday to strengthen my “girl gang!” I love the energy I get from creating and being in community. As someone who works from home full time, being part of a group with relevant and practical programming is refreshing. As a mentee in the current RI Pay It Forward Pipeline program, I am working with my mentor on a holistic understanding of what “success” looks like in this phase of my career and life while setting concrete goals to track and celebrate.
One of your most proud professional moments and what are you most looking forward to professionally the next five years: During my time at RI DLT, I saw firsthand how the impact of a state program in partnership with local businesses can create jobs. Looking at our impact and hearing the stories of people in their job-seeking journeys will stay with me forever. While I now work in technology on an enterprise level, I’m not sure where I see myself in five years, but I know that the connection to everyday people will always be part of my guiding principles.
What do you do in your “free” time? I have an active yoga practice and teach two classes a week at West Side Yoga in Providence. Also, with an 18-month-old daughter, my “free time” is “we time.”
Three core values: Courage, compassion and curiosity.
Fun fact: I’ve been training and performing as a hip hop dancer since fifth grade. While I don’t perform anymore, I make it a point to have regular dance parties at home with my husband and daughter.