Mark Green, born on March 8, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family, is a former New York City Public Advocate and progressive politician. He graduated from Cornell University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in government and from Yale Law School in 1970 with a Juris Doctor. Early in his career, Green worked as a staff attorney for the New York Attorney General's antitrust bureau, served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1973, and directed Ralph Nader's Congress Watch. In 1983, he was appointed head of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs by Mayor Ed Koch, serving until 1985. Green ran unsuccessfully for New York Attorney General in the 1986 Democratic primary and later founded the Democracy Project, a nonprofit promoting political reform. He has authored books such as 'Selling Out: How Corporations Won the War Against New York' (1995) and 'The Two Americas' (2006), and has been a vocal advocate for consumer rights, campaign finance reform, and progressive causes, criticizing corporate influence in politics.