Mark Penn

Mark Penn
Former President Bill Clinton, Penn and David Talbot
Personal details
Born	(1954-01-15) January 15, 1954 (age 63) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Nancy Jacobson
Children	3 daughters 1 son
Alma mater	Harvard University Columbia University
Website	Official website

Mark J. Penn (born January 15, 1954) is a former pollster, political strategist, and author. He is a former executive for Microsoft Corporation, and PR and advertising firm Burson-Marsteller.

Together with Doug Schoen, he was co-founder of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates., whose clients included political and business leaders such as U.S. President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Bill Gates. Penn later served as chief strategist and pollster to Hillary Clinton in her unsuccessful campaign for the democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election In September 2007, he released a book titled Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, which examines small trends sweeping the world. Penn is married to Nancy Jacobson, a professional fundraiser. He is currently a visiting lecturer at Harvard College.

Penn was born in New York and raised in Riverdale. His father was a Lithuanian immigrant who died when Penn was 10 years old. He was raised by his mother Blanche, who worked as a school teacher. Both of his brothers credit Penn with keeping the family together after their father's death. Penn graduated from the Horace Mann School in New York City in 1972. He conducted his first poll, which determined that the Horace Mann faculty was more liberal than was the country at large on the issue of civil rights, when he was 13.

Penn entered Harvard in 1972. Initially waitlisted, Penn took the train to Boston to lobby for admission. At Harvard, Penn majored in political science and, as a city editor of the Harvard Crimson, wrote and reported 99 articles. His work for the paper included reporting and analysis on the Cambridge City Council elections of 1975, the Harvard admission process, and the controversy over the proposed construction in Cambridge of the John F. Kennedy Library. Penn graduated from Harvard College in 1976. Penn and his future business partner, Doug Schoen, started Penn & Schoen – now the global market research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates – in their dorm room.