“Being experienced at what you do is good. Loving what you do is great.”

Doggedly pursuing answers and solutions is simply what Mark does. And he’s been doing it since he was a small child and his grandmother handed him puzzles to solve. She rewarded him with a quarter every time he found the solution. This early love of solving puzzles led naturally to a professional life of building things.

Fresh out of Claremont Men’s College, Mark began his architectural apprenticeship with the firm of Albert C. Martin and Associates. Over the years he worked for a variety of architectural firms, and gained a full understanding of the complex interplay of creativity and practicality.

Mark believes his early experience as a carpenter established a solid foundation for his professional development. He began to learn then that before you frame the building, you must first frame the issues: “Ask the right questions and you’re halfway down the road to the right answers: What’s in your master plan? What is this building’s place in that plan? Then you can begin to answer the detailed questions about contents and functions and aesthetics.”

After more than thirty years working with architects, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, fabricators, and construction management firms on behalf of institutions such as Los Angeles Unified School District, Inglewood Unified School District, Los Angeles Community College District and Compton Community College District, Edwards has no trouble meeting the challenges of project management head-on. He is knowledgeable, solution-oriented, and—he’ll be the first to admit—stubborn about finding the right solutions for his clients.

To Mark Edwards, “Problem solving is often messy, but I love it. I like to cook, get my hands into the garlic, onions and other things that most people avoid because they stink. That’s a great part of the joy of it!”