Advisor Spotlight: Bevin Desmond, Former Chief HR Officer, Morningstar

by
The Parentaly Team
Oct 14, 2025
Bevin Desmond, Former Chief HR Officer, Morningstar

We’re excited to introduce Bevin Desmond, a new member of Parentaly’s CHRO Advisory Board. 

Bevin spent more than two decades at Morningstar, where she most recently served as President of Global Markets and Chief Human Resources Officer. Over the course of her career, she’s helped shape people strategies, expand global operations and strengthen cultures that enable employees to thrive.

“I’ve always been passionate about finding tools that make people love where they work. Parentaly helps companies show up with intention during one of the most meaningful transitions in an employee’s life, providing the structure and care to make parental leave a positive experience that strengthens culture, protects continuity and drives retention.”

Bevin has always been passionate about creating benefits that serve both the individual and the business, building structures that last and reflect the culture of an organization. Her perspective on parental leave as both a critical benefit and a business opportunity is exactly the kind of insight that will help guide our mission forward.

Below Bevin shares her perspective on what’s broken about parental leave today, why it matters for culture and competitiveness and the opportunity she sees in approaching it differently.

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What inspired you to join Parentaly’s CHRO Advisory Board?

“I saw Allison speak at 81 Collection’s annual event and thought Parentaly was a business I could add value to. I am passionate about creating benefits that work well for the company and individuals so that they can be long lasting and give insight into the culture of a company. Though parental leave is statutory in many markets, the requirements vary greatly and there is broad thinking by companies that having more investment in this space is a good outcome. But, there is not a lot of infrastructure behind this benefit for most companies and it causes it to be a costly but not overly embraced benefit.”

Why is parental leave such an important issue in today’s workplace?

“Parental leave is a point of competitiveness for offers and a harbinger of what kind of culture an employee can expect from the company they are joining. There often can be trepidation from an employee to take this benefit because they may feel their career will stall or their manager will be annoyed they are out of commission for a long period of time. Turning that into a positive experience for both the company and individual makes sense given how much companies invest in the benefit and the ability to grow and retain a great diverse workforce.”

What’s broken about how companies handle parental leave today?

“Companies are investing more and more in this benefit for employees in terms of length of leave, but without the infrastructure to handle long departures from the workplace. It's very common to have no guidance on how to manage your time away and for team members to feel adrift during the time their manager is on leave.”

What excites you most about Parentaly’s mission and this moment in time?

“I love the idea of making parental leave more of an opportunity for a company rather than a potential area of risk. For example, approaching parental leave in a structured planful way can result in a more seamless experience for the team and individual on parental leave, it can create opportunity for team members to grow, it can give the individual who is taking parental leave the ability to look at their work differently and grow their team, allowing them to step up into new responsibilities and experiences. The opportunity for a longer leave to result in a positive impact is there and requires a great process and structure to enable.”

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To celebrate all we’ve accomplished, our team shared what they’re most proud of since joining the team:

I'm most proud of how much we have done to improve the single hardest moment for women's careers (going on parental leave) ... one that is often shrouded in insecurity and fear. We've been able to help advocate for so many women (and men!) in a way that is empowering and truly life-changing.

Allison Whalen, CEO & Founder

What am I most proud of? Growth! Growing a category of support that didn't exist before Parentaly. Growing from a one-woman bootstrapped operation to a global team of 25+ employees and coaches. Growing our overall impact for working parents, with companies investing in our parental leave programming to support employees all over the world. And growing as humans: new babies, new friends, new life experiences... all while tackling new and exciting work challenges together.

Rich Burke, Head of Growth

When I reflect on what I am personally most proud of during my time here, it's working alongside a team where we constantly evolve and optimize everything that we do in order to deliver the best possible experience for the folks going through our programs. It sounds cheesy, but there are processes that my team and I used to do 100% manually that are now completely automated and systems in place that have become second nature to how we operate. Working with such thoughtful, smart, and creative people is incredible.

Sara Ophoff, Senior Program Manager

I’m most proud about doing work that makes parents feel confident and empowered about their careers during a time that can be overwhelming and challenging – not only for our clients and users who go through Parentaly’s programs, but also with our advocacy work on LinkedIn, through our podcast and other big campaigns that make a difference. It’s been pretty rewarding to build a brand people know and love because what we’re doing resonates with so many employees’ experiences in the workforce.

Jenna Vassallo, Head of Brand & Marketing

I am so proud of the way we've approached growth with such care and intentionality - with every adjustment we've made to our offerings, we've never lost sight of our goal to provide the most supportive and valuable experience for our users. I love looking back on the early stages of conversations and building that have led us to the experience we offer today. Personally, I am extremely proud of the work I've done to scale and automate our backend!

Rachel Andes, Program Associate

I am most proud of the work we do every single day to make a positive impact on working parents! Everyday I get to work with an amazing group of people…we work hard but we also have fun.

Sarah Gruber, Client Partner

I'm proud of scaling an employee experience that consistently delivers positive outcomes for new parents and their organizations. Our north star has always been the user, and we never sacrifice our high quality bar!

Mansi Kothari, VP of Product & Experience

I feel a sense of pride that I get to work behind the scenes supporting everyone. I’m proud to see all of the collaboration between the team and how Parentaly positively impacts employees.

Leo Manalo, Executive Assistant

I'm most proud of going through the Parentaly program myself! I'm so proud to work for and promote this company in a time where parental leave and supportive policies are at the forefront of a national conversation. But beyond this, I'm most proud to call myself a participant.

Emmy Carragher, Enterprise Partnerships

I’m really proud of the work I did to expand our coaching bench globally at Parentaly. It was so rewarding, not to mention insightful, to connect with talented coaches from around the globe. This expansion not only enriched our coaching offerings but also strengthened our commitment to making a meaningful impact on families all over the world.

Nicole Hagemann-Bex, Senior Coaching Operations Manager

I have tremendous pride in the knowledge that what I am doing will change the career landscape for new parents, particularly mothers. This will make it more likely that my daughter can have a career AND a family without worrying about the unintentional negative impact of taking parental leave. Nothing makes me prouder than that.

Mindy Himmel-Brown, Strategic Partnerships

In my short time at Parentaly, I'm proudest of the work we're doing with our clients' ERG groups to elevate the stories and advice of actual working parents. It's such an impactful way to spread the word about Parentaly as an essential resource for all people growing their families, and the managers who support them!

Alex Diskin, Enterprise Account Manager

I'm most proud about using LinkedIn to connect with others. I was recently able to share a helpful return to work doc with 50+ new people looking to make a difference at their company. Was pretty cool that people from Chewy, McDonald's, Honda, Cisco, AWS, Walmart and more want to integrate just a piece of what we have to offer. Also...I'm so proud of the way I feel as an employee at Parentaly. For the first time in my career my personal interests align with my professional interests and I've never felt more motivated.

Jenny Hurwitz, Strategic Partnerships

I'm really proud of being able to help the Experience team by handling the supportive functions so they can focus on the bigger picture. It feels great to know that I’m making things easier for them and contributing to the team’s success.

James Mango, Executive Assistant
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