Mark Blum (Moderator)

Mark Blum is Executive Director of America’s Agenda: Health Care for All, a non-partisan organization that brings together national and international labor unions, businesses, major health care providers, and government leaders who share a common commitment to achieving guaranteed access to affordable, high quality health care for every American.

He also serves as CEO of The America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund, a non-profit pioneer in health policy development, public education, leadership training, research and analysis that provides common ground between business and labor for health care system transformation to assure cost-effective, high-performance delivery of care.

Under Mark’s direction, America’s Agenda has achieved an unrivaled record of success in building and winning statewide, comprehensive, healthcare reform campaigns. Many of America’s Agenda’s policy recommendations to Congress and the Administration were adopted in the historic Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

After completing graduate studies at the London School of Economics, Mark served as an economics professor and president of the faculty senate of the College of Insurance (now at St. John’s University) in New York City.  There he organized his first college faculty union before moving on to become National Director of Organizing for the American Association of University Professors.  Mark was the first male ever elected to the Board of Directors of the American Medical Women’s Association.

He has served as a special advisor on hospital finances to leadership of the California legislature.  Internationally, Mark has served as advisor to Cambodian textile workers organizing the first labor unions in their country’s history.