By SUSAN JONES

A new employee resource group hopes to give parents who work at Pitt a place for advocacy, advice and social connection.

The Pitt Parenting Community was launched earlier this year through the Office of Institutional Engagement & Wellbeing. Grace Drnach-Bonaventura, assistant professor in Behavioral and Community Health Science in the School of Public Health, said the idea for the group came from her own experiences as the parent of an infant.

Her daughter is now 18 months old, and Drnach-Bonaventura said she had lots of support during her pregnancy and leave, “but I was always looking for other parents who were going through the same experience.”

In particular, she said, the people in her office of advising in the School of Public Health were very supportive. “When I started talking to them about, ‘Hey, I’m back, this is a lot to try to figure out as a parent,’ and I will say that those women were so, so helpful. And when I talked to them about the Pitt Parenting Community, they were also like, ‘This would be great.’ They came to all the initial meetings and they’re in the group.”

She was looking for advice from people who’d already gone through issues like nursing at work and finding day care, and camaraderie from those who were in the same stage she was.

“I started looking at what University resources were available, and that’s when I started looking at an employee resource group,” she said. “Let’s make this an official community, so that people feel welcome — parents of all ages — so we could talk about both the good and bad and find the support.”

The group started in the summer with 16 members and has grown to around 35 since then.

Drnach-Bonaventura said the members include parents with young children, some who just got back from or are about to go on maternity or paternity leave, and people who have older children who are looking for summer and break-time activities for them to do.

“It’s really great to have a range,” she said. “We have some people who are also caregivers to older folks. So it’s not just parenting, but what does that look like if you’re caregiving for your children and your parents?”

The group has a hybrid meeting once a month, but rotates the purpose of the gathering monthly. One month will be a general group meeting, the next month is for subcommittees — which she stressed are optional for members — and the third is a social event.

“If someone chose that they just want to be in the social, they would come and meet us every three months. In between, we have a Teams channel,” she said. “But if somebody wants to be more involved, they can definitely join the larger group. That’s when we do report outs from the subcommittees and talk about what we want to do for the social.”

The next general group meeting is from noon to 1 p.m. Jan. 12 on the 31st floor of the Cathedral of Learning.

The social events have so far included informal lunches, funded by a small budget from the Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing, but they hope to plan other activities like wellness or yoga sessions. These gatherings aim to reduce isolation, foster camaraderie, and create a supportive peer network across departments and campuses.

The group has formed two subcommittees. One is for gathering parenting tips and other educational information, like what is involved in going on leave or how to balance work and child care. The other is an advocacy group “that’s looking a little bit more toward how can we make parenting and working easier for folks, looking at University resources and making them more visible or accessible,” Drnach-Bonaventura said.

Some of the issues that the group has been discussing are how to schedule in nursing during the work day; what to do if your child is sick; and how to talk to your supervisor to get some scheduling flexibility.

For instance, Drnach-Bonaventura said that when she was nursing, she didn’t have enough time to get the key for a lactation space, nurse, clean all her equipment, put the milk in the refrigerator and get back to a meeting.

“I was fortunate that I have a door that closes and they were able to frost it,” she said, which is an example of an idea to help make a parenting issue easier at the University.

Other Pitt communities

There are currently 11 employee resource groups, or Pitt Communities, which “are functioning as usual and receive organizational support from the new Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing,” according to Clyde Pickett, vice chancellor for institutional engagement and wellbeing.

“These groups are open to everyone who shares an interest in an activity, purpose or cause, and are organized by faculty and staff members from the grassroots,” Pickett said.

“Pitt Communities focus on issues identified by members, friends and allies, and they play a vital role in ensuring a welcoming environment where all members of the faculty and staff are valued, included and empowered to succeed.”

The groups include:

• Chinese Affinity Group

• Chayim B’Pitt (Pitt Jewish Community)

• Equipoise (Black/African American)

• Hispanic and Latino Professional Association

• Pitt Adoption Community for Education

• Pitt Disability Community

• Pitt Muslim Affinity Group

• Pitt Parenting Community

• Pitt Queer Professionals (PQP)

• Veterans Affinity Group

• PittWomen Affinity Group

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

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