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The quintessential southern gentleman, Mark Sanders is the epitome of charming and humble. He hails from Mississippi and has the accent to go along with his sweet personality. I have known Mark from our days as colleagues at neighboring state emergency management agencies. Not too long after I made the move into the utility sector, Mark did the same. While our career paths have some similarities, Marks’ route to GIS was unconventional. He learned about GIS because the role needed doing at MEMA and his boss knew he was capable of learning. He enrolled in classes and completed his formal education, not because he felt a pressure to hold a degree in the field where he was now working, but simply because he wanted to learn more of the fundamentals of GIS. He wanted to expand his critical thinking and problem solving skills in order to better serve the people of Mississippi.
Mark and I discuss our time spent at our respective EMA’s with fondness and we both noted how much we enjoyed working in that field. He notes during our conversation, “…as an emergency manager you just wear so many hats” and “…you never know what is going to come up in a given day”. It keeps things interesting, as there is rarely a dull day at an EOC.
In his new role at Entergy with the Power Delivery Technology Development and Analytics group, he is in charge of identifying new (and new to him) technologies and discerning their applicability and use cases for the company. He enjoys exploring where efficiencies can be improved, identifying new products that could benefit their operations, and continuing to learn more about the business.
Any day that I have the opportunity to chat with Mark, it’s a good day. He is insightful, measured, and considerate with his explanations.
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