Mark is the Director of Human Resources for the City of Seattle. He has been an active advocate on labor, poverty and racial justice issues for his whole career. At the City, he also worked as the labor liaison and a senior policy advisor in the Seattle Office of Economic Development. Prior to that, he worked for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services as a special assistant for welfare reform and director of income. On labor issues, he served as an assistant director of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries and as a staff member to the Commerce and Labor Committee of the Washington State Senate. In the late 1980's, he played a key role in the passage of House Bill 2222 which granted farm workers with significant rights and protections not previously granted. After the passage of the bill, Mark was responsible for the development and implementation of the administrative rules related to this historic legislation. Later, he worked on progressive welfare reform through training opportunities for poor parents on public assistance. He has served as Board Chair of the Washington Association of Churches and on the board of the Statewide Poverty Action Network. In 2003, Mark-representing Mayor Greg Nickels and Mark's brother, Congressman Jim McDermott-was part of the busload of 42 people who participated in a 12-day journey across the country on the Seattle bus of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. Mark holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Washington.