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An unexpected journey to NASA

Not all career paths make sense right away, at least not in the way people imagine. Andrea Parker ’07, a human resource business partner at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), describes her journey to one of the world’s largest aerospace research programs as less-than-direct.

“If you recall those Family Circus cartoons, they would follow Billy and draw a dotted line between point A and point B. The line circled and took turns and was never straight. That is my career path to where I am today."

Parker was a human development and family science major while at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. She says that while that type of degree may seem unrelated to her current field, a deep understanding of assessing needs and creating programs to meet those needs provided the perfect foundation for her future career.

After graduating from ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, Parker worked as a community liaison for the Children’s Bureau of Indianapolis, earned her Master of Social Work degree from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and later accepted a position as a family support advocate at an Early Head Start program in the Atlanta area. In this role, Parker provided community resources and family support to impoverished families. From there, her passion for serving and developing others was fulfilled through joining the Peace Corps and moving to El Salvador for two years. As a volunteer within the Youth Development Program, Parker assisted in projects supporting health education regarding HIV prevention and nutrition, youth engagement in the community, life skills workshops, scholarship obtainment and establishing a library in a local school. Once she completed this service opportunity, Parker was granted “non-competitive eligibility” to be directly hired into certain government positions, leading her to NASA.

As a human resources business partner, Parker supports NASA’s mission through personnel management, which includes consulting with employees and managers on topics such as career development, training, workforce strategy, hiring, succession planning and overall personnel management. Parker has aided in a variety of projects, from planning and facilitating retreats, to composing and sending center-wide messages on programs for federal employees. Additionally, Parker acts as the Johnson Space Center formal mentoring program manager, matching protégés and mentors based on competencies, maintaining the program, coordinating developmental events and providing resources for the participants.

According to Parker, NASA provides an incredibly supportive work environment where employees wish to see their peers succeed. “Given the overall mission of NASA, it is a privilege to work with people who are so passionate about what they do,” she said. “In general, NASA employees in areas such as engineering, flight operations and science very intentionally wanted to pursue a career here; enabling people to either come in as a new employee or develop in a career they already enjoy is very rewarding.” While challenges naturally arise, such as hindrances due to federal policies or limitations, she considers NASA to be a fantastic employer. (Fun fact: NASA has been voted the Best Place to Work in Government for seven years in a row!)

Apart from her degree in human development and family science, Parker possesses another extremely marketable trait: bilingualism. While she has not had to utilize this skill often at work, Parker has found it situationally helpful in settings where no one else has the ability to communicate with a person in Spanish. This typically takes place while volunteering on behalf of NASA at events geared toward the public.

“Funny story about that,” says Parker, “I volunteered doing public outreach for NASA when the Super Bowl came to Houston. Our volunteer coordinator asked me if I spoke Spanish and I said yes (thinking they needed someone to give directions or something). I ended up doing a brief interview on the spot for ESPN Mexico!”

Parker expressed her gratefulness for the education and foundational love for service on the basis of her faith that ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ instilled in her. Her degree provided her with the tools to understand relational dynamics, physical and emotional needs and even cultural awareness. This training and versatility was the catalyst in granting her the space to pursue many different career paths, from her first job as a community liaison all the way to working at NASA.