Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mark earned a B.A. in Public Policy with a Concentration in Ethics and Public Policy from Stanford University, Class of 2009. In 2010 he completed a Masters Degree in Diplomacy and Conflict Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel, where he served as Masters Student representative with IDC's Program for the Diplomatic Corps, a course taught for foreign diplomats serving in Israel. Before returning to the United States Mark was Founding Director of the Student Internship Program for the Diplomatic Association of Tel Aviv (DATA), the umbrella organization for foreign diplomats in Israel, working under DATA Chairman Diaa Hammad, 1st Secretary of the Egyptian Embassy to Israel. Mark currently works in Washington D.C., but his loyalty remains with the Buster Posey-less San Francisco Giants, who will nonetheless repeat in 2011. He claims that in the 15 months he spent in Israel, there were only 2 days he wishes he could have been back in SF: the day the Giants won the Series for the first time in San Francisco, and the million-man victory parade down Market St. two days later.