HKS Parents & Caregivers Affinity and Inclusion Group Champions Flexibility and Family Support
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently issued a report about the well-being of parents. According to the report, 48% percent of parents say that most days, their stress is completely overwhelming. And since 67% of two-parent households have both parents in the workforce, stress is affecting U.S. parents more than ever before.
Laura Pike Seeley, Mary Catherine Smith, and Chasa Toliver-Leger, co-founders and co-chairs of HKS’ Parents & Caregivers Affinity and Inclusion Group (AIG), understand the stress of working parents firsthand. Emerging from the pandemic, they felt the culmination of exhaustion from full-time work, full-time childcare and the emotional drainage of COVID-induced anxiety.
“There was no break. For parents, it was like, ‘You’ve survived this apocalyptic nightmare while keeping your family afloat by working fulltime, educating and caring for your young children, and trying to stay sane while being isolated in your home for months and months… now, pretend it never happened; back to the grind,” said Toliver-Leger, HKS Senior Public Relations Manager and mother of a four-year-old son.
Supporting Parents and Caregivers with Flex Work
In 2021, HKS formally launched its Flexible Work Experience Program (FWx), which is still in practice today. FWx allows HKS employees to “flex” their work schedules to best serve their personal needs while balancing the needs of their clients and colleagues. Many employees work remotely two days per week and flex their hours for drop-off or pick-up duty, extracurriculars, and summer activities. Hours can be adjusted week to week as responsibilities change, and as a global firm in time zones worldwide, employees can make up hours at any time.
One day at the close of a 2022 meeting, Pike Seeley connected with Smith and Toliver-Leger over parenting and the struggle of finding balance between familial and work responsibilities.
“We were venting…talking about how it often felt like we were drowning keeping everything together. And that’s with flexible work schedules and understanding managers,” said Pike Seeley, HKS Knowledge Program Lead and mother to two young boys.
“And then we thought, ‘We’re not the only ones feeling this pressure. How can we create solutions — or at least a community of people in similar situations — to help our firm become even more supportive, inclusive, and accommodating of working parents?,” said Smith, HKS Senior Communications Manager and mother of two young children.
“How can we create solutions…to help our firm become even more supportive, inclusive, and accommodating of working parents?”
With that conversation, the idea for the HKS Parents & Caregivers AIG was born. Led by its three co-chairs with Executive Sponsor Bernita Beikmann, HKS Chief Delivery Officer, the group has grown to nearly 100 members firmwide.
Empowering Employees and Spreading Awareness
The Parents & Caregivers AIG’s mission is to support and empower employees with caregiving responsibilities while acknowledging and spreading awareness of the challenges they face to drive positive cultural change within the HKS organization and beyond.
Most recently, the AIG sponsored its second annual “Bring Your Kids to Work at Week,” in which offices across the firm invited children, grandchildren and nieces/nephews of employees to come in for a day of design-focused fun, games and activities. Most of HKS’ 29 offices worldwide hosted unique events such as a baking challenge in Shanghai, a “Build Your Own City” in Chicago, and a 3D printing exhibition in Dallas.
The group also hosted a firmwide Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion virtual event earlier this year featuring Stephanie Telles, Founder and CEO of Otoño Consulting, who talked to attendees about harnessing the power of caregiving in the corporate world. Members of the AIG also shared personal experiences on parenthood struggles, wins and finding balance in an unpredictable world.
“Every week you find a different balance depending on the varying needs of your job and your family,” Tina Duncan, HKS Director of Code and Regulations and mother of two, shared during the panel discussion. “You have to remind yourself, ‘I’m doing the very best I can on this given day, and that’s all I can do.’ It helps to know we can lean on this community and support each other through it all.”
And the support is working. In the group’s annual sentiment survey of HKS employees, 91% of parents and caregivers were “satisfied with the flexibility provided by the company,” and 98% felt their “manager is understanding and accommodating when it comes to [their] parental and caregiving responsibilities.” In both 2023 and 2024, HKS was awarded as a Best Place for Working Parents, a ranking based on ten beneficial company policies for parents including paid time off, parental leave for mothers and fathers, nursing benefits, flexible hours and more.
“HKS has been flexing for a long time- way before we gave it a name,” said Sidney Smith, Phoenix Office Director and father to twin girls. “That flexibility has allowed me to make every single one of my daughters’ athletic events — that’s been a huge win for me. I didn’t have that growing up; I’m thankful for a firm that knows what’s important.”
Bringing Perspective to Design Projects
The AIG also serves in an advisory role to design teams working on projects related to parenting and caregiving responsibilities. Since parenting happens everywhere, the AIG provides guidance on projects ranging from health to education to sports and beyond.
Michelle Carroll, HKS Chief Human Resources Officer, a mother of two and caregiver for her mother, said that when she returned to work from parental leave, she noticed a project team doing a pin-up for a major sports venue.
“Their brilliant idea was to create women’s restrooms that were much larger, since women’s lines at events are always much longer than men’s,” Carroll said. “I asked them, ‘What are you thinking for wellness rooms?’”
After a brief conversation, the design team brought in Carroll and several other employees with breastfeeding experience, who advised them on necessities and nice-to-haves for lactation rooms in the major sports facility.
HKS currently has seven Affinity and Inclusion Groups: Parents & Caregivers, PRIDE, BLACK Collective, Mindful: Neurodiversity & Mental Health, Women in Architecture, Asian & Pacific Islanders and Hispanic & Latin with more forming. These groups are working across the firm to enhance policies, provide support to colleagues and offer their unique perspectives to strengthen HKS’ work.
“HKS’ vision is to become the most influential firm in our industry, and that starts with investing in our people,” said Sam Mudro, HKS President & CFO and father of two children. “The Parents & Caregivers AIG highlights the needs of some of our most dedicated and talented employees. By aligning our policies with business objectives, we make their lives simpler and more fulfilling, which, in turn, empowers them to invest more passion and energy into their projects and clients.”
Though the Parents & Caregivers AIG is only two years old, its efforts have already brought forth positive change firmwide, and the group hopes to do much more in the future.
“Driving home from the office after Bring Your Kids to Work Day, my 6-year-old daughter Caroline and I were reflecting on the day. She said, ‘Mommy, when I grow up, I want to work at HKS with you,’” Smith said. “In those moments, you know you’re making a difference by setting an example for the next generation, and you know everything will be okay.”