Here are nine things to know about Mark. 

Pen Pals – What started it all 

Mark’s father was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States in 1949 after spending four years in a displaced persons camp. He arrived in Springfield, Mass, where his two brothers and their wives – who had survived the Holocaust – had settled. 

“My dad was interested in a woman in Springfield, but that interest wasn’t reciprocated. However, she had a pen pal from Baltimore who was planning to visit. She decided to introduce them. They hit it off, got married, had me and ultimately moved to Baltimore where my mom’s family lived.” 

He met his wife bowling. 

“I had a friend, and he was always looking for dates. And I was the complete opposite. 

Anyway, we bowled weekly at Pikesville AMF lanes. And he knew Robin, so he invited her and her best friend to bowl with us one night. And when I met Robin I thought, ‘I’ve never met anyone like her, she’s great.’ We’ve been married 44 years.” 

Journey to The Associated 

Upon graduating from University of Baltimore, Mark worked at Ernst and Young where he audited multiple companies, including the Colts, Orioles, Maryland Racetrack and a number of hospitals and industrial companies. Mark left then went on to become CFO at Total Healthcare and Prudential Healthcare. After a number of mergers, he was working in Landover when he learned about an opportunity to return to Baltimore and became CFO at Baltimore City Public Schools before joining The Associated in February 2004. 

What – The Associated does that? 

At Ernst and Young, Mark met Bruce Hoffberger, who was a manager at the time. Bruce convinced Mark that he should support The Associated that he has done ever since. 

“Bruce explained The Associated to me and I thought ‘I know the JCC – I went there when I was young. I know Jewish Family Services (now Jewish Community Services as it was where my sister (who has disabilities) received services. I went to Baltimore Hebrew High School and Camp Milldale one year. And my family would go to Milldale for Family Day on Sundays in the summers because we couldn’t afford vacations.” 

A career to be proud of 

When asked what he is most proud of in his two-decade career at The Associated, he begins by saying that he brought structure to Associated Jewish Charities, the asset-holding arm of the organization. He also created the finance committee which brought oversight and transparency to the budget and other financial matters. He is especially proud of reconciling capital finances over his tenure. 

Yet there are many other areas that Mark points to from ensuring the continuity of Ohr Hamizrach Synagogue and Weinberg Academy, which since became SHEMESH. He was a big part of the Visioning Process that combined agencies, increasing efficiencies while saving the organization money. 

Sustainability has become a priority. 

He first became interested in sustainability and the environment about 15 years ago. “People and companies would talk about it, but they stayed away from greening. They thought it was expensive, and in some ways that was true. But as I got into it, I realized you could save the earth’s resources while also saving dollars.” 

So, Mark started the Green Loan Fund, which provides zero-interest loans to faith-based organizations to improve their energy efficiency. From there, The Associated began investing in solar, planting trees – the first foray was at the cemeteries in Baltimore City like Bowley’s Lane and Hebrew Friendship. 

Making the environment his legacy. 

In honor of Mark’s tenure, The Associated is setting up a fund to support environmental work, and in particular, programming for the Baltimore Environmental Sustainability Network (BESN). BESN was created to educate, engage and promote sustainability in the community through hands-on programming and legislative advocacy. 

Orioles or Ravens? 

If you know Mark well, you know he is a rabid Baltimore sports fan and really enjoys participating in fantasy sports leagues. So when we posed this all-important question to this Baltimore sports afficionado, it was a difficult decision. Yet his answer: the Orioles 

“The Orioles have been a constant, and I grew up loving baseball. I would always go to Memorial Stadium to watch the Orioles play, and I played Little League. My favorite player of all time is Boog Powell.” 

His daughter (Jessica) has one child. Eva is not quite two years old and is named after Mark’s parents which has Mark somewhat scared but proud. Eva enjoys talking and playing (like her mom) and eating (like her dad). And she has already travelled to over 10 states and France! 

What people don’t know about him. 

About his work, he says: “I’m not that big bad CFO. I have a softer side and want to help people make their dollars stretch.” 

And on the personal side: “I love reality shows, science fiction, the band Yes and 1,000-piece puzzles. Those puzzles saved me during the pandemic.