Mark Heller has accumulated more than 30 years of experience in bond financing, community planning, economic development, real estate development, sustainability programming, small business legal counseling, organizational management, and community involvement. He has been honored to serve the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority (CECFA) as Executive Director since January 2015. CECFA has issued nearly $8 Billion of tax-exempt bonds to support educational and cultural facilities throughout the state and across the nation. Prior to CECFA, he worked to create significant positive changes for downtown Golden as the Executive Director for the Golden Urban Renewal Authority between 2004 and 2014, including major redevelopment projects, the award-winning Golden Sustainability Initiative, and even hosting professional bike races. Mark developed a passion for community planning and development while living in Crested Butte, Colorado, where he served on the boards of some of the area’s leading environmental, cultural, and economic organizations. He was a board member of High Country Citizens’ Alliance and the Crested Butte Mountain Theatre and was counsel to the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival and the Crested Butte Music Festival among others. One of Mark’s objectives in working with such diverse groups was to balance sustainable economic development with environmental conservation and community vitality. Mark began his legal career in 1991 as Assistant General Counsel with the Texas Ethics Commission, where he joined a team of six other attorneys in a new state agency designed to regulate lobbying, campaign financing, and political advertising.Mark earned his undergraduate degree with honors in interdisciplinary studies (Plan II) in 1987 and a law degree in 1991, both from the University of Texas at Austin. He earned a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2006.Mark lives in Golden with his wife Erica and children Miles and Ayla.