Mark’s Story (Dr. Thaller)
Dr. Thaller served as a General Partner at several Venture Capital funds on Wall Street where he co-managed the investment of nearly a billion dollars with top-quartile performance while serving on the Board of Directors of nearly 20 firms. Prior to his career in business, Dr. Thaller served in various capacities as a Naval Officer on highly classified missions aboard nuclear Attack submarines.
His academic research has focused upon Corruption, Culture, Context & Killing: A Phenomenological Analysis of The Effects of Corruption Upon Lethality and Feelings of Insecurity in Regions of Extreme Conflict. He has been published or quoted in dozens of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Washington Post. His numerous awards include the inaugural Springboard Leadership Award in 2000 for his ardent support of women entrepreneurs. He was also recognized in 1996 as a Kauffman Venture Capital Fellow for entrepreneurial leadership. Dr. Thaller supports Type-1 Diabetes and young girls’ advocacy efforts in Sudan and South Sudan through Kyle’s Campaigns for Change (https://KCC-T1D.com) and Spread Your Wings (www.syw-impact.org).
I have been mentoring amazing people as a father, venture capitalist, and international advisor for many years. Helping ordinary people achieve the extraordinary, and helping extraordinary people achieve greatness is my personal calling. When my son, Kyle, was accepted into the U.S. Senate Page Program I was captivated by the possibility of these super-talented people someday working together after the program’s completion. However, over the past 190 years and to the best of my knowledge, former Senate Pages have never, ever combined their talents towards some greater good. Hence, I was ecstatic when Kyle and nine other Spring-2020 Pages decided to do a project promoting federalism in South Sudan. Having lived and worked in South Sudan for many years, I was honored to serve as the project’s advisor. A few months later, I was similarly approached by Mallory and Phoebe about their concept to help girls/women worldwide, but with an initial focus upon South Sudan. I was immediately enthralled and agreed to assist however possible. Spread Your Wings (SYW) is going to allow a lot of young girls achieve a degree of greatness in their own lives. I also honestly expect that some of these girls will also follow in Phoebe’s and Mallory’s footsteps, becoming leaders and helping others in South Sudan, the United States, and around the world. On this note, I am honored to play a small role as an Advisor on the SYW team.
