We’re thrilled to welcome Mark Rossetti to the Pavilion team as a Senior Software Engineer! In his first week, Mark has helped to launch Pavilion’s COVID-19 response, which supports government buyers across the country to purchase PPE and other critical response supplies. Over the last several years, Mark has used software to solve problems of the public interest, from supporting small business development with the City of Long Beach, CA to helping people clear old criminal records to building software for the treatment of opioid addiction. Mark loves working across the stack and seeing the big picture of what makes a product experience really valuable for users. When he’s not writing code and building product, he is a big fan of the outdoors, folk music and poetry, and partner acrobatics.
We asked Mark a few questions about himself and the experiences that led him to join Pavilion.
Why Pavilion?
Government is one of the most powerful tools we have to provide common goods and services that grow neighborhoods, support businesses, and create opportunity for all. Having had a taste at Code for America of what it takes to make government work well, I’m thrilled to be joining Pavilion. Our team is full of ideas about how to improve procurement and help governments deliver on their promises. I’m looking forward to figuring it out together.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
What I lack in dedication to my hobbies I make up in variety. I’ve always been a musician — a singer, mostly — and lately have been into folk traditions like Appalachian ballads and old Scottish songs. In the category of physical hobbies, I do a bit of partner acrobatics now and then, and I’m a big fan of taking my bike out for trail rides on the weekend.
If you could invite anyone in the world to dinner, who would it be and why?
Perhaps Neil Gaiman. It’s not that he’s my favorite writer; it’s simply that he has one of my favorite storytelling voices. His books and short stories alike are conversational, and I can hear them spoken in his voice in my head. It makes his work feel like oral tradition, and I suspect it’d make for a simply delightful evening of dinner conversation.
What’s a book you’ve read and enjoyed recently?
I just finished reading The Book of Three, and old fantasy novel from the 60s, and was really charmed by how succinctly and kindly it delivered a satisfying hero’s journey story. A lot of Ursula LeGuin’s writing, though a bit more complex, has held my attention over the last couple years for the same reasons. I’ve got a soft spot for archetypal tales of human nature.
