Biography.

Mark Anthony Thomas is an executive and writer whose career spans economic development, public leadership, media, and the creative arts. He has worked in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New York City, and Los Angeles—helping regions strengthen their economic strategies, modernize government systems, and build partnerships across the public, private, and civic sectors.

Mark is the President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, the region’s business-civic leadership organization and regional economic development entity. His work focuses on strengthening the region’s competitiveness, supporting business and innovation growth, advancing major infrastructure priorities, and aligning leaders and institutions around shared economic opportunities.

Before joining the GBC, Mark was President of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, guiding business attraction and expansion efforts across the city and 10-county region. His leadership helped position the region for significant capital investment, support more than a hundred business and development projects, and deploy regional risk capital to advance industrial growth.

He previously served as the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s first Senior Vice President of Partnerships, where he built the city’s global industry and international engagement strategy and supported initiatives in business attraction, entrepreneurship, neighborhood development, and long-term job creation.

Mark’s public-sector career took shape in Los Angeles, where he led a private-sector funded innovation initiative within Mayor Eric Garcetti’s administration to reform procurement, real estate, risk management, and interdepartmental operations—efforts developed with city departments, civic leaders, and elected officials.

His early grounding in journalism and media shaped his approach to communication, strategy, and civic engagement throughout his public leadership roles.

Mark is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MBA), Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (MPA), and the University of Georgia (BBA), and serves on the Board of Directors for the International Economic Development Council, FUSE Corps, and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.

Over the last decade, he has been recognized among the most influential leaders in technology, real estate, and business across Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and California.

Creative & Poetic Roots.

Mark’s creative path began with poetry and journalism as a teenager in the Atlanta region. At the University of Georgia, he became the first African American Editor-in-Chief of The Red & Black, the university’s independent daily newspaper. His leadership earned recognition from Time magazine, NBC’s “Future Leaders of Tomorrow,” and multiple honors from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., including College Brother of the Year for Georgia (1999, 2000) and the Southeast (2001).

Building on those early roots, Mark published two poetry collections—As I Look and The Poetic Repercussion—and performed more than 200 readings across the United States. He collaborated with the Georgia Ballet on Jazz Synchrony, a choreographed performance set to his poetry, and his short film In This Shop won Getty Images’ Global Mishmash Award. His books appeared on the Poetry Foundation’s National Contemporary Poetry Best Sellers List and earned Poetry Book of the Year at the Los Angeles Black Book Expo.

Mark later moved into a broader media role in New York, where he led City Limits as publisher and executive director. During his tenure, he guided the organization through a significant period of growth—modernizing its digital presence, expanding its reporting capacity, launching a bi-monthly magazine, and strengthening its investigative work. Under his direction, the newsroom earned major national distinctions, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award and the Deadline Club Award, New York’s highest honor for reporting. During this period, he also helped establish the Online News Association’s New York Chapter and co-founded the Center for Community and Ethnic Media at the CUNY School of Journalism.

His creative work expanded into film with Folded Whispers, his first documentary short, released in 2022. His next project—a trilogy of poetic short films—will begin with In Need of Seawater, scheduled for release in January 2026.

Across his artistic and civic journey, Mark’s voice has carried into public forums around the world. He has spoken at the White House, the United Nations, the JFK Presidential Library, and the Carter Center, and has been interviewed by outlets including The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.