The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has named Assistant General Manager of External Affairs Steven Parker as interim chief of staff and Assistant General Manager of Labor and Employee Relations LaShanda Dawkins as interim chief administrative officer.
The appointments follow Chief of Staff Melissa Mullinax’s departure from MARTA after six years.
Parker most recently served as the chief innovation officer for the Transportation Security Administration. Before that, he was general counsel at Storybrand, a major brand and marketing company representing Fortune 500 companies, and political director for Jon Ossoff’s U.S. Senate campaign.
He was formerly a senior city attorney, handling commercial real estate and municipal law for the city of Atlanta, director of logistics for the Jon Ossoff for Congress campaign, and before that, an attorney at Balch & Bingham LLP, and vice president, and senior counsel with Fidelity National Title Group.
Dawkins has more than 18 years of experience with MARTA. Before her tenure with MARTA, she served as an assistant general counsel for the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and its independent agencies. She also served on the superintendent’s leadership team as Duval County Public Schools’s general director of policy and compliance.
She is a member of the state bars of Texas, Florida and Georgia, and is also admitted to practice in federal court. Dawkins is a certified retirement pension fiduciary and serves as the chair of the American Public Transportation Association’s Workforce Development Committee and is a Leadership APTA Class of 2015 graduate.
Parker and Dawkins assume their duties immediately.
