Mark Avnet

By Day

Mark Avnet is Vice President of People at Simulmedia. He most recently served as Global Head of Talent Integration & Culture at Wayfair, where he co-led the global Learning & Development team and was responsible for new hire onboarding and company culture initiatives. Prior to joining Wayfair, Mark was an operations, organization, and leadership development consultant at McKinsey & Company and an internal consultant at San Francisco International Airport, where he built and executed SFO’s People Strategy.

Mark began his career as a software engineer, and he later served in technical and policy roles at NASA and was a professor in Industrial & Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from MIT, an M.A. in Science, Technology, and Public Policy from The George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Systems from MIT.

By Night

All-time favorite TV show: Breaking Bad

TV show more people should watch: Wilfred

All-time favorite video games: The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter II

Favorite snack when watching TV or out at the movies: I like dine-in cinemas where I can have a real meal during the movie.

By the Way…

Charity more people should know about: iMentor

The skill I have that might surprise people: I’m an avid scuba diver.

Favorite hobbies: Inventing songs to sing to my baby daughter.

Greatest personal accomplishment: Running the Boston Marathon.