Parekawhia was appointed the Chief Executive of Te Kāhui Tātari Ture | Criminal Cases Review Commission in November 2020 after having previously worked in the health and transport sectors.  She also currently holds governance roles within Waikato-Tainui, education, health, infrastructure and electricity sectors. In 2021, Parekawhia was a member of the independent advisory group led by David Howman CNZM that undertook a governance and organisational review of Sport NZ and High Performance Sport NZ.
 
A mother of two daughters and grandmother, Parekawhia was raised in Whatawhata before leaving the Waikato in the late 1980s to live in Wellington. She has over 20 years of public policy and public sector management experience including almost seven years as a Director and Consultant of her own company Mauriora-ki-te-Ao/Living Universe Ltd (MKTA) - a company dedicated to advancing the creative potential of Maaori knowledge, people and resources.

One of her major achievements as a government official was the establishment of the Maaori Television Service – where she was the lead Crown advisor. Parekawhia spent 5½ years as a strategic advisor to three Prime Ministers – Bolger, Shipley and Clark.