[3] From 1985 to 1987, Mark was the chief of staff for a New York State Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr. and the assistant director of the Crown Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association (CHNIA) from 1989 to 1991.
At the time, the credit union was the largest Black-owned community development cooperative in the nation and Griffith and Louis were dubbed “hip hop bankers”.
[4] The pair was recognized by New York Magazine among their "10 New Yorkers Making a Difference", "with energy, vision and independent thinking"; and Griffith was named one of Crain’s “40 under 40”.
[5] From 2006 to 2008 Griffith was Economic Justice Fellow at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy[6] and in 2008 was named interim Executive Director of DMI to succeed Andrea Batista Schlesinger.
On September 15, 2009 Griffith ran in the Democratic Party primary for the New York City Council[7] and came second to long-time incumbent Al Vann in an eight-person race, losing by 735 votes.
[17] Later that year, Griffith received the David Prize which annually honors five visionary New Yorkers with $1 million for “redefining and revoicing New York City’s public narratives”.