The Mark Thomas Memorial Fund

Who Is The Late Mark Thomas?

by Lynn Thomas

Mark Thomas was a Business Leader, Devoted Husband and Father. Mark’s warmth, intellect and humor combined to light up every room he entered and to draw others to him. Where he went, he became the center. Yet he did not seek the limelight; rather he encouraged others to reach their full potential and be their best selves. He made others feel important, listened to, empowered. Mark strongly believed in diversity, equity and inclusion. He was a man ahead of his time as he modelled that both at home amongst his family and incorporated these principles in the companies he helped found. While he left us far too soon, he lived a full and adventurous life, abundantly loving his family and friends, inspiring his colleagues and clients and leaving a reverberating impact on the business world.

Mark was born on July 28, 1954, in New York City to David and Ann (Davis) Thomas. He grew up in Palisades, NY; Milan, Italy; and Sydney, Australia with his two younger sisters and brother, who were not only siblings but also, along with their spouses, lifelong friends. This diverse background embedded in Mark an acceptance of different cultures, thoughts and ways of life. A seminal experience for Mark as a young teen living back again in Palisades, NY was when his mother became involved in a church initiative in Harlem. Each weekend, for months, Mark joined his mother in a project to help clean up a street in Harlem and build a play structure for the local children. He worked alongside the local community. The lessons learned formed a strong base for Mark’s outlook about the importance of accepting and learning from others from all walks of life. 

Throughout his school years, Mark excelled academically, graduating from Sydney Church of England Grammar School, receiving a B.S. First Class Honors in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and then an MBA from Harvard University with high distinction as a Baker Scholar. At each academic institution, Mark was a leader and highly respected by his peers.

Similarly, Mark had a profound impact on the business world, founding, developing and leading two successful international businesses: Monitor Group, a premier global strategy services consultancy and Monitor Clipper Partners, a transatlantic private equity firm. Mark was one of three people responsible for Monitor Group’s overall strategic and operational development and created many of the most enduring business concepts. He also led many of Monitor’s largest and longest running relationships, partnering with CEOs and corporate boards of his clients. One of those CEOs best described Mark’s impact by stating that, “Mark was so effective that those he was advising would think they had come up with a brilliant idea, when in fact, Mark was the hand that guided them to the solution.” His longtime secretary shared that Mark would ask for a weekly summary of each of his staff-who had a birthday, engagement, new baby-so that he could personally congratulate them. This would not only be for those who were in the boardrooms, but also the office, janitorial, and support staff. All who worked with/for Mark were treated equitably. It did not matter what their race, sex, sexual orientation, family background was-what mattered was that they were passionate about their job and worked hard.

Most recently, Mark was the Executive Chairman of Agero, the leading provider of software-enabled driver safety services and technology. It was through this role that Mark was first introduced to Boston Bridges Initiative (BBI). One of the owners of Agero, Howard Wolk, sent Mark a slide deck about BBI. When Mark read it, he told me about it and felt that because of my background as a longtime educator that I would be interested. Upon reading through the slide presentation, I became increasingly excited about all the possibilities and tremendous potential that BBI had to create profound change in cross-cultural dialogue and experience between students and their families in the Boston area. Mark and I discussed how we could become more involved and set up a call with Howard. At that time, Howard proposed that I join BBI’s team and help it grow. Mark was happy to contribute financially and was very excited to support me diving into the BBI family. As a Canadian having moved to Boston in 2017 and newly married to Mark in 2019, still trying to meet new people and become a part of the Boston community, it was a perfect project to become involved with. The day that Mark passed away, he had spent an hour on the dock of our cottage, while I madly took notes, explaining what the differences, needs and expectations were for an Advisory Board versus a Board of Directors. As an independent director on numerous corporate boards and volunteer boards, Mark had a wealth of knowledge to share with me. Mark achieved tremendous personal success in business, but he always led with humility, serving as a mentor and coach to not only countless junior colleagues, but to friends, his siblings, his children and to me, his wife.

While Mark’s work accomplishments were substantial, he also excelled as a father and was utterly devoted to his three children: Matthew, Breezy and Chris. As with most families, Mark’s children were incredibly different, and Mark took immense joy and pride in watching them grow and develop into the outstanding people they are today. A closer look at what each felt that Mark gave him speaks volumes about how Mark believed in nurturing and accepting everyone for who they were and encouraging them to reach their potential. For Matt, teaching others to look for the positive and instilling values of kindness and fairness as a leader. For Breezy, he was her role model from the early days of youth soccer and later Duke lacrosse, where he would appear for every game and transferred to her his competitive drive, to an accomplished business career of her own. Mark sat on the volunteer board for Bolts soccer and was a fierce supporter of equity for female players within the Bolts organization. For Christopher, his dad encouraged boundless imagination, wisdom and humor; a shared love of cinema, history and storytelling, and a steadfast support of a career in the arts with all the diversity that is a natural part of his chosen career path.

Mark and I first met and dated at Queen’s University in Canada but went separate ways as he left for business school and I started my 31-year career as a teacher in a small town outside of Ottawa, Ontario. We met again for the first time since 1980 when Mark was attending a wedding in Ottawa in 2016. The spark was reignited and for both of us, the last five years have been among the happiest as we shared our life together. We packed a life’s worth of adventures and love into that far too short time. We were inseparable traveling together in Europe, skiing dozens of days in Vermont, Canada and Colorado, biking, hiking, swimming, rowing, dancing under the stars, spending hours in art museums, or simply relaxing in front of a good movie. We cherished our time spent amongst a large cadre of family and friends as we wove our two worlds together. Mark filled my life with love, fun and joy every day. He also inspired me, encouraged me, challenged me as we shared ideas and philosophies of life. Our shared commitment to Boston Bridges Initiative is one of the newest ideas we were eager to do together. I am honored and committed to carry on Mark’s lifelong belief in creating opportunities for growth, accepting people for what they are and helping to make a difference in our world. Please join us as we honor Mark’s legacy.