Born in upstate New York, Mark grew up in various suburbs in the Midwest including Birmingham, MI, West County St. Louis, and Barrington IL. Mark has called southern California home since 2000 with stops in Santa Monica, Westwood and Downtown before settling in Pasadena.
By his own admission, the most interesting thing about Mark Waterson is that he has been adopted twice – experiences that pushed him toward a career in the nonprofit world.
Mark was hired as the Executive Director for the Convalescent Aid Society in February 2014 and has been CEO since 2019.
Prior to CAS, Mark ran operations at Broadview, a private, nonprofit nursing home for Christian Scientists in Montecito Heights. While at Broadview Mark was instrumental in working to nearly double the number of patients served while simultaneously streamlining operations and reducing expenses amid rising health care costs.
In addition to growing Broadview’s reach, Mark oversaw the design and installation of a large solar panel array on the property behind Broadview. Located above the 110 freeway (you can see the solar panels on the eastern hillside around Avenue 43 as you drive north toward Pasadena) the project was the first large-scale hillside solar installation in Los Angeles County and instrumental in shaping regulations and guidelines for this emerging technology.
His interest in conservation and sustainability is well-suited to CAS’s ethos of refurbishing donated DME and placing these items back in service. Currently, CAS is the largest organization of its kind in the United States. Under Mark’s leadership CAS has increased its annual reach by more than 40% and now records over 30,000 pieces of medical equipment out on loan to area residents. Plans are underway to add a second location in Burbank serving the San Fernando Valley, thereby more than doubling the reach of the agency.
Mark currently serves on the Accessibility and Disability Commission in Pasadena and is a member of the Community Benefits Committee at Huntington Hospital. Beginning in July, 2021 he joins the board of directors for Pasadena Rotary.
Before starting his current career in the nonprofit world, Mark spent time in the Media Relations Department with the Los Angeles Clippers, as well as stints with Time Warner Cable, AIG/Sun America and several boutique accounting firms in Los Angeles.
He has an undergraduate degree from Principia College in Elsah, IL and a Masters in Public & Nonprofit Administration from Cal State LA.
He has travelled around the world exploring remote locations in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe. His most recent international adventure took him to French Polynesia and New Zealand. He has visited nearly 40 countries on six continents, but currently keeps most of his adventures stateside, including playing pinball and riding his OneWheel electric skateboard.
