Mark Sylvia
Graduating class: 1992
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2025
Hall of Fame Category: Lifetime Achievement
For the past 37 years, since Mark Sylvia entered Fairhaven High School in 1988, he has displayed tremendous leadership skills beginning with his four years as the President of the Class of 1992 and serving as the Student Representative to the School Committee.
In every stage of his life Mark has demonstrated a natural ability to make a difference by seeking out positions whereby he could promote change and make a difference. In his five years at American University in Washington, D.C. (1992-1997) he was involved in student government and in 1993 served as an intern in the Office of Congressman Barney Frank. By his senior year at American Mark was elected to the campus wide position of Student Confed-eration President.
The next phase of Mark’s life was his post collegiate work life in municipal government, specifically his time in the largest town in Massachusetts: Plymouth, where Mark worked his way up to being selected in 2005 as the youngest Town Manager in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the age of 30. From 2005 – 2009 Town Manager Mark Sylvia was responsible for managing a town budget of $141,000,000 for a town of 57,000 residents. While working his way up in Plymouth town government from 1998 – 2004 Mark was elected to two terms on the Fairhaven School Committee which was the beginning of his lengthy time of community service in the town of Fairhaven.
The second phase of Mark’s professional career involved leadership posi-tions on the state wide level, serving as a senior energy official in the Administration of Governor Deval Patrick, including as the first Green Communities Division Director, Department of Energy Resources Commissioner and the Undersecretary of Energy.
During his tenure, he and his team implemented nation-leading clean energy policies resulting in a number one ranking in energy efficiency for four consecutive years, surpassing the Governor’s solar energy goals four years early, and designating 155 cities and towns as Green Communities. During this period of his professional life Mark also became the elected Town Meeting Moderator in Fairhaven, a position that he continues to hold sixteen years later.
The next phase of Mark’s professional life involved leadership within the private energy sector where Mark worked to expand the solar development portfolio of BlueWave, a pioneering solar developer that has received national recognition for its work in protecting the planet through its efforts in developing renewable energy.
In 2015 Mark was hired as Managing Director of BlueWave and then in 2018 was promoted to the Chief of Staff position where he oversaw the Policy and Government Affairs, People, and Marketing teams.
Mark’s current phase of his professional life started on November 5, 2024 when he won election for the 10th Bristol District’s seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. From the time that Mark visited the State House on a high school field trip, he envisioned himself someday sitting in that historic chamber representing his home district.