Kathleen Borgueta is helping parents get back on their feet in unprecedented times. After her own termination from a federal agency while on maternity leave in early 2025, Borgueta founded the job search community Pivoting Parents, meant to help laid-off federal workers find new jobs and support them while unemployed. The government is now open again following its longest ever shutdown from October through mid-November and many are still recovering. Borgueta recently received the DC Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award from Technical.ly for her work.
Borgueta and her husband live on U Street in Washington, D.C. with their 1-year-old son, Max.
What led you to found Pivoting Parents?
I was literally sitting in my (Jewish Community Center) JCC’s postpartum support group when I got my pink slip, so I could not have been a newer mom. Everything I had planned for motherhood and for my family was thrown out the window, and with the collapse of my industry, I was really struggling to get back into the job market. I decided to start Pivoting Parents to help other parents like me, who needed support in these extraordinary circumstances. Two months after getting fired, I strapped my baby to me and started this community, first reaching out to federal workers, but now we’re open to parents and caregivers of all kinds.
With so many layoffs in D.C. and the greater DMV area, we’re seeing people from every sector. I’m trying to build the community I didn’t have in January, providing job-searching resources and supporting mental health. My current focus is collaborative child care, because it’s difficult to take meetings and find work while having to care for a child full time.
What are some of the most common challenges that people in your position are facing?
No. 1 is child care. I had planned exactly where my son was going to day care, and the routes I’d take to drop him off and pick him up. But I’ve had to build a totally new career while caring for my son. The skyrocketing costs of child care in this area are a major concern for a lot of people.
Secondly, financial and job insecurity are big problems for families in D.C. People have built communities and are invested in places near where they live in the DMV, so they aren’t looking to leave the area, but they’re stretched very thin. The job market has really dried up, so it’s a challenge for people to pay for child care and keep up with costs of living.
The third major thing is the toll this is all taking on people’s mental health. My experience as a postpartum mom was super isolating, and being in the situation where you’re unemployed and lose the camaraderie of your colleagues and peers is really tough. Pivoting Parents is trying to build a lot of mental health support to provide a new sense of community and belonging.
What do you want your son to learn from you as he grows?
There’s so many ways I’m trying to model good behavior for my son. Part of the reason resiliency is so important to me is because I want him to be resilient. I want him to see how we did this together, to see where my values were and where I put my effort and time during [a] crisis. I want him to see how we should respond to crises, which is embedding yourself in a community and uplifting yourself by uplifting others, and working towards building a better future for all of us.
Family Favorites
Meal: Falafel Friday
Local Spot: The Tabard Inn & Restaurant. It’s where my husband and I met and fell in love!
Vacation Spot: The beach
Family Activity: Anything music-related
Book: Sandra Boynton picture books
