Mark Tough Email & Phone Number

Towson, Maryland, United States

Transitioned from infrastructure engineering role to combination role as special projects coordinator and infrastructure lead. Along with ~5 others on project, gave notice of intent to depart on July 1st and completed time on project on August 21st. Work relationship for GDIT with the project's prime contractor had become strained and dysfunctional, leading to these departures of key team members. Prime contractor program director was subsequently terminated in November. The GDIT side of this team had nonetheless successfully migrated the enterprise ACA appeals tracking system into AWS in seven months (with myself as migration call lead) -- the first enterprise CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) application to migrate into the AWS GovCloud.

Towson, Maryland

Joppa, Md

Led programming and training efforts for a nationally top-10 ranked VAR for NCR's Counterpoint retail management system.Created C# / SQL Server data-bridging applications for clients including Polk Audio (to support their entre into bricks-and-mortar retail), Gertrude Hawk Chocolates (a Scranton-based chocolatier with over 70 retail locations), and Spokes Etc. (one of the countries largest independent dealers of Trek bicycles). Led internal NCR staff certification efforts, ported basic company website to WordPress, participated in new client rollouts, and provided on-site and phone-based support for existing clients.

Baltimore, Md

Provided 20-25 hours per week of professional support for campaign field operations, building on prior federal and local campaign management experience. Councilman Henry successfully defeated a serious primary challenger and easily retained his seat in the general election.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

Provided interim editing and copy-editing support for advertisements appearing in Alter Media's two flagship publications, STYLE Magazine and the Baltimore Jewish Times.Provided comparable support editing products for Alter's custom-media clients, including the University of Maryland College of Law, Garrison Forest School, the University of Maryland Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and others.(Alter Media is now Clipper City Media.)

Baltimore, Maryland Area

Managed all aspects of Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville (NOGLI), a small community development non-profit focused on the provision of Healthy Neighborhoods home rehab loans, neighborhood marketing, support for community schools, and more. Highlights included:Being awarded the largest-in-the-city neighborhood-schools partnering grant from the Goldseker Foundation ($105,000 in year one, slightly more in year two) to establish the Northeast Schools Alliance, an innovative partnership of NOGLI, a charter school, a zoned public school, and a parochial school. Conceiving, funding, booking and hosting KidStock – Maryland’s largest children’s music festival.Aggressively coordinating disparate neighborhood residential and commercial interests to help open a new professional theatre in a formerly abandoned bank building, a blues club and Cajun restaurant, and art gallery, and more.Marketed the neighborhood through multiple traditional and social channels, especially including its being awarded the "Best Place to Buy an Old House in Maryland" by This Old House magazine.Drove Healthy Neighborhoods residential loan performance commensurate with that of exponentially larger organizations promoting the same program in other neighborhoods.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

The Patterson Park Community Development Corporation (PPCDC) was a groundbreaking social venture organization that gained national and international attention for its highly successful rehabilitation of the rowhouse neighborhoods north and east of Patterson Park. Through rehabbing over 400 area rowhomes (and nearly a dozen commercial properties) for market-rate resale and intelligently reinvesting proceeds from sales into the neighborhood, PPCDC paved the way for other non-profit organizations built on a for-profit model. PPCDC's work contributed substantially to Patterson Park being named one of the Top 10 Comeback Neighborhoods in the Southeast by Southern Living and to Patterson Park being named one of America's ten best urban parks by FORBES. The Great Halloween Lantern Parade and Friends of Patterson Park were two peer catalytic organizations that benefitted substantially from PPCDC's financial and social support.My initial responsibilities were database programming/systems analysis and full support of all I.T. and online functions. Those responsibilities soon expanded to include co-participation in many marketing activities and then to lead management of PPCDC's 180-property, scattered site rental operations. In this latter capacity, I decreased internal overhead by over 40% while increasing quality of service.Subsequently promoted to Director of Administration and Information Management, I played a large role in administrative restructuring and strategic planning, while retaining prior responsibilities. In 2008 I was named Acting Executive Director in conjunction with the departure of the organization's founder. The financial crash of 2008 unfortunately put PPCDC into Chapter 7, but the neighborhood it served continues to thrive thanks to its efforts and the ongoing commitment of its residents.

Battersea, London, Uk

Newton Prep is among England's preeminent fee-based schools, with an enduring focus on the arts, music, and liberal education. In 2003-04 I co-conceived and co-led a large interactive multimedia project that came to serve as both a CD-based school yearbook and an important marketing vehicle for the school and its parent-teacher organization.Entailing over 4,500 person-hours of labor (including over 1,500 of my own), this project brought together students, faculty, parents, professional designers, actors and more to create an amazing Flash-based creative document of the school's life in the 2003-04 academic year.I coded roughly 15,000 lines of Flash ActionScript, sequenced and animated all Flash graphics, conceived a majority of the major design sections, wrote some content and also contributed photography.The core team included myself, parent and writer John Major as project coordinator, parent and professional graphic designer Andrea Derungs, and parents and professional actors Trevor Sellers (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0783380/) and Joy Richardson (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0724634/). Pleased parents included LiveAid founder Sir Bob Geldof and Duran Duran's Simon LeBon.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

ICTS was the silent partner of UMBC and subsequently Towson University, managing all facets of each school's technical continuing education not-for-credit programs. As the UMBC Computer Certification Training Center, ICTS was the area's highest volume and most respected retail and contract training provider.I began as a full-time Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) instructor and soon developed and led the area's first and then only Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) track, focusing on Visual Basic. In this capacity, I eventually hired and managed a second full-time programming instructor.From the beginning I also actively participated in corporate and organizational sales, playing a leading role in landing nationally significant contracts with Proxicom (an application service provider creating web portals from clients ranging from Marriott to General Motors) and the U.S. Government Printing Office (USGPO). The nearly year-long Proxicom effort entailed selecting and configuring training labs in Reston, New York, and San Francisco; modifying Microsoft course content, coordinating work with a SQL Server instructor, offering additional off-hours and online tutoring, and other responsibilities as required. The success of the first round brought a commitment for a second.The USGPO sought to provide its in-house program staff (about 60% older COBOL/DB2 developers and half younger UNIX graphics/imaging coders) literacy in a broad set of client/server and object-oriented technologies, with training occurring over six months.Based on strong performance, I was eventually appointed Lead Instructor and ultimately Education Center Director, in charge of all aspects of the 19-lab, 400 PC site.

Churchville, Maryland

Created, marketed and led HCC’s first Microsoft certification, a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) track for which I utilized third-party instructional materials augmented by my own custom content. Helped develop and teach within HCC’s in-house webmaster certification track. Taught full spectrum of MCSE courses, as well as Java, JavaScript, HTML, Access and Access Programming, and more for both retail and custom contract clients. Through HCC’s corporate outreach, created Access-based warehouse returns management system for Aberdeen Rite Aid warehouse, servicing all Rite Aid’s east of the Mississippi River.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

Conducted systems analysis and database development for clients of Software Consortium and J&M Systems; did web design and development for the latter; Regional Contributing Editor for PING, a Mid-Atlantic technology and culture tabloid with a circulation over 15,000; author of various paid advertorial pieces for the Baltimore Sun; author of Statistics--A Handbook, a college "Stat 101" third-party workbook published by Rue Publishing; advertising copywriter for various small businesses.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

Taught, marketed and developed curriculum for a variety of public and contract information technology continuing education courses. Delivered first-ever Baltimore-area classes continuing-ed courses on Java, advanced Access programming, and more; and taught on those subjects as well as Visual Basic, HTML, end-user applications, and more.Contract training clients included the Maryland State Employees Credit Union, Westinghouse and Cap Gemini.Through CCBC's organizational outreach, I also developed or modified Access and FoxPro applications for Johns Hopkins Bayview's mental health outpatient services, the State's Attorney's Office of the City of Baltimore, and the Baltimore City Office of Domestic Violence.

Baltimore, Maryland Area

I began as a client/server database developer, with special focus on applications to support Partnership for Workforce Quality grant tracking, Maryland With Pride in-state product promotion, and Maryland environmental business directories.Joining the former director of the Maryland Small Business Development Center in a "guerrilla" client/server IT division, I co-led efforts to sell senior management (led by Mark Wasserman) on benefits of a common software/email/networking platform for the entire department. Success brought Maryland state government its first all-Windows/all-Office/all-MS Mail Department-level roll-out in 1993/4. My responsibilities expanded to coordinating all user training on new software tools and operating systems for over 700 staff statewide, as well as managing an expanded software development group and overseeing the software side of the new network's user support group. In 1995, we deployed the first (to my knowledge) intranet in Maryland state government. In that same year I spoke at, and was honored by, the Maryland Industrial Development Association (MIDAS) for our work in making state government more efficient and effective through I.T. and the internet.

Indianola, Iowa

Joined Powell for Congress as full-time Director of Fundraising and soon also assumed the responsibilities of Press Secretary.Fundraising responsibilities included coordination of all Political Action Committee solicitations, call banking, direct mail, major events, and more. Press responsibilities in the large, predominantly rural district comprising Iowa's southwestern quarter included development of daily press releases, coordination of interviews with over two dozen district radio stations, and liaising with over 40 editors of daily and weekly newspapers within the district. Powell for Congress enjoyed the highest votes-to-dollars ratio of any federal or state campaign in Iowa in that cycle and leveraged the endorsement of The Des Moines Register and other key media outlets. The campaign won a contested primary only to lose to the three-term incumbent in the general election.

Ames, Iowa

Participated in all aspects of conference, convention, and concert catering for a large, university-affiliated food service unit. Drove catering truck and oversaw remote catering operations. Conventions ranged in size from under twenty to over 2,000. Concert catering clients served backstage included R.E.M., AC/DC, Howard Jones, the Leningrad Philharmonic, UB40, Motley Crue, Aerosmith, and many more.

Building on work within Iowa State's Honors program (see Education section below), I ran for and was elected as one of two student representatives nationwide on the National Collegiate Honors Council's (NCHC) Executive Committee, subsequently serving in this capacity for two years. NCHC is the national umbrella for college and university Honors programs.Following my acceptance to and participation in NCHC's "United Nations Semester III -- From Urban to Global Community," I joined the Honors Semester committee responsible for developing, administering and evaluating these occassional special programs offered around the world. I co-authored oral and written survey instruments and helped administer them to students in the subsequent United Nations Semester and led subsequent SAS-based statistical review. I also conceived and worked extensively in the early organizing phases of the World Food Semester. I am hopeful of eventually playing a role in organizing a semester in Baltimore around smart cities and social entrepreneurship.

Bachelors, Community And Regional Planning, Economics, Sociology

Activities and Societies: Marquee Scholarship recipient, President of Local/Campus Amnesty International Chapter, Student President.

Hs Diploma

Activities and Societies: Lettered in Varsity Tennis and Debate, State champion in Future Problem Solving Bowl, active.