Mark and I worked together for a number of years from 2006 to 2014 in the TIAA-CREF Marketing organization. During that time, Mark successfully and effectively led our Marketing Operations function through a period of transition and continuous improvement, standardizing the way we managed print and email production across the organization and significantly improving process and vendor management and reducing costs. In addition to his effectiveness as a business leader, he is a very strong leader of people. While he was a valued mentor to me, I also saw Mark compassionately yet strategically lead his team through tremendous change while creating an organizational culture based on excellence, outcomes and loyalty. I believe his employee culture survey results were among the highest in Marketing, signaling the results of his strong team management. And finally, as Mark’s successor on a piece of the business he led, I have had the wonderful benefit of learning from his experience, strategic thinking and thought leadership as I moved forward with constructing, launching, and running the organization’s first in-house creative agency, which was named the In-House Agency Forum’s 2014 Agency of the Year.
Elena French
Vice President of Creative Services