Beyond the desk: co-op director Melissa Peikin on building community for Northeastern’s working parents

Sixteen years ago, Melissa Peikin began working at Northeastern as an academic and co-op advisor. Now she oversees Khoury College’s co-op and strategic partnership teams, and as someone who looks out for the well-being of students in their academic and career endeavors, she is also passionate about the well-being of her coworkers. Enter NUParents, an affinity group she co-chairs with the College of Engineering’s Alison Nogueria which supports Northeastern faculty and staff who are also parents.

Khoury News sat down with Peikin to hear about the group’s mission and her role within it. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Khoury News: How did NUParents come to be?

Peikin: I had my first child 13 years ago, and when I came back from my parental leave, it was a bit of a jolt to work with a three-month-old baby at home. I was looking for community with other people who were coming back and working full time when we’re exhausted, our baby’s been up all night, and our body doesn’t feel the same.

I started to meet with other women I knew who had kids, women who had already come back to work and adjusted. So, it was more of a “Hey, let’s meet for lunch. Let’s talk about these things.” And word started to spread. Over the years, we called ourselves “NU Moms,” and once we became an affinity group, we named ourselves “NUParents” to be more inclusive.

What type of impact has NUParents made for Northeastern employees?

Our group started to look at Northeastern’s parental leave and created a petition to try and get a stronger parental leave. The petition really caught on, and a lot of people signed it.

When we met with human resources, we shared some of the group’s concerns and the benefits comparison to other universities and what they were offering their employees. HR eventually changed parental leave at Northeastern for the better, and I think our group lit the match to get those needs met.

Do you see any overlap between being a Khoury leader and co-chair of NUParents?

I think being a parent naturally brings out leadership qualities. Work–life balance is really important to me, and I try to make sure everyone on the co-op team understands and shares that philosophy. I am very empathetic in general to people and what their needs are outside of work. We work really hard, and it’s important to remember that people have other things going on in life.

What are some of the most important values for NUParents?

Community and empathy for each other.

During COVID, there were many new additions to NUParents. Being a parent during COVID, working full time, and having your kids home on Zoom school was not easy. It was great to help each other, acknowledge that this was really hard, and find advice and solutions, especially when returning to work after lockdown. Although we had Microsoft Teams before COVID, it really took off after that because we all weren’t working in the same physical space, and that became our means to communicate where we’re the most active.

We’ve had different speakers come in to talk to the group — some in person, some virtual — and it’s been great to bring people together. We try to survey our membership and bring things that are topical and that people care about.

What do you hope to see in the future of NUParents?

I would love to see its membership grow and to get people interested in taking on roles within it. We’ve recently added a bunch of subgroup leaders to create community around the different facets of parenting: by age group, special needs, etc.

The parental leave situation and COVID were two major milestones that really connected the parent community. It’s hard to anticipate where there might be a need to advocate in that same way again.

It’s just nice to know that you’ve got a group of people who have a shared experience, and that you can reach out to them with questions and resources. I hope to continue this work and make sure we’re still finding community and support. Because we all work at Northeastern, there’s that common base, so it’s a nice way to connect with university colleagues who you might not otherwise interact with during the course of your work.

What is your favorite part about your role at Khoury College?

I get to see my worlds combined. I’ve had this happen before where I’ve worked with a student as an undergrad, they graduate, and then they work for a company and end up wanting to hire students for co-op.

So, it’s this full-circle moment where I send my current students to an alumnus who is also an employer and these worlds merge together. Alums who hire co-ops are our best hiring managers because they understand exactly what students want. It’s just really great to see a person’s journey, to remember them when they were in their first or second year as an undergraduate and know that you played a part in where they are now.

To learn more about NUParents, check out Melissa and Alison’s appearance on the Moms with Benefits podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.