Women In Parking 2024
Parking Australia’s February 2024 Industry Event, ‘Women in Parking’, was held Wednesday, 28 February in Brisbane.
We thank our many colleagues for joining us for a unique experience where a panel of leaders generously shared their invaluable insights, drawing from their diverse experiences, backgrounds, and lessons learned.
The panel was moderated by Parking Australia’s newest Board member, and 2023 Parking Industry Young Achiever, Emily Carson, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council.
Beyond the informative session, the event was a fantastic opportunity for networking and building professional connections across the wider parking community.
Our panel:
Yolanda Torrisi, Care Park
Yolanda Torrisi has worked in the parking industry for 15 years managing Care Park’s public relations
portfolio. She is an experienced public relations specialist managing the public relations for a number of professional service companies, construction companies and mining companies.
She has significant experience and knowledge in news media, digital media and social platforms,
magazine writing and publishing. In her public relations role she also undertakes business
development to find new growth opportunities for the companies she works for.
Yolanda specialises in proactive and reactive media strategies to protect brand reputation
particularly for companies whose service delivery can create significant public interest – such as the
parking industry.
Yolanda has started, and run her own mining magazine, The ASIA Miner, which was subsequently acquired by a US publishing house; she has published a successful paddock to plate food book, Flavours of the Four Seasons and she ran for council elections and came a creditable second against the incumbent mayor in a very large field of contenders. Yolanda is strongly community minded regularly volunteering her expertise for not-for-profit-organisations.
Tabitha Mitchell, Orikan
Tabitha Mitchell is an executive with an extensive and accomplished background in driving growth within the transport and citizen services sectors. As the Chief Growth Officer at Orikan since June 2023, based in Melbourne, Victoria, Ms. Mitchell is instrumental in propelling the company’s strategic objectives, particularly in delivering cutting-edge parking technology solutions that bolster government and community initiatives. Her role at Orikan underscores her adeptness in aligning innovative solutions with public needs, further solidifying her position as a leader in the field.
Prior to her current role, Ms. Mitchell demonstrated her exceptional capabilities as the Business Development Director at Serco. Her tenure there was marked by significant achievements, notably her success in expanding citizen services and securing Serco’s status as a primary partner of the Australian Government. Earlier, as the Sales and Marketing Manager – Global at Redflex Traffic Systems Pty Ltd, she made impactful contributions towards enhancing road safety and reducing fatalities on a global scale. Ms. Mitchell’s comprehensive expertise in government relations, sales, negotiation, operations, and marketing management is complemented by her deep-seated commitment to road safety and positive societal impact, making her a highly respected and influential figure in her field.
Cassandra Miers, Secure Parking
Cassandra Miers is an experienced operations, sales and marketing leader and executive with a demonstrated history of working in the commercial real estate industry. In early 2024, Cassandra was appointed Secure Parking’s Head of Service AU/NZ & Philippines. Cassandra has held senior roles at Secure Parking since 2001, with a focus on operational and service optimisation, account management & sales, marketing and partnerships.
Nikki Clements, Sunshine Coast Council
Nikki has worked for Sunshine Coast Council for 20 years, with the Regulated Parking Team coming under her leadership in 2014. Nikki has been an integral driver of councils advanced parking and monitoring program using number plate recognition technology in vehicles and static school cameras. Nikki is passionate about sustainable operations in a growing population, by seeking to innovate and collaborate internally and with the community to provide safe and equitable parking opportunities.
Emily Carson, Northern Beaches Council, Parking Australia Director (moderator)
Emily Carson worked for the Metropolitan Police Service for 10 years and since moving to Australia in 2016, has been working in Local Government. She has experience in parking, community transport and fleet, and has a lot of experience in the not-for-profit sector, having volunteered for numerous organisations including the Red Cross for the past decade. Emily is passionate about sustainability and the overall customer experience using innovation to improve these services.
Thank you to our host, Queensland University of Technology and major sponsor, First Parking.
This event was recorded and is available to members along with top reflections on the day on via our member portal.