Mark Tuniewicz
| Mark Tuniewicz | |
| Treasurer Libertarian National Committee | |
| July 1998—July 2024 | |
| Predecessor: | Hugh Butler |
| Successor: | Deryl Martin |
| Personal Details | |
| view image gallery | |
Mark Tuniewicz 2023 LP Bio
LP Backgrounder on Mark A. Tuniewicz (pronounced toon-YEV-itch)
General Backgrounder
Mark Tuniewicz (born 1961, New Hampshire, US) is a business executive, trade association chairman, and political activist for libertarian causes. Twice elected chairman of the legendary Libertarian Party of New Hampshire https://lpnh.org/ , Tuniewicz left that state having set new records in fundraising, membership, local candidates, and highest-in-the-nation number of public officeholders-and with the treasury at record high levels. He also led a strategic planning effort, managed a record-setting membership recruitment drive, and organized successful lobbying campaigns, including reducing ballot access requirements.
Tuniewicz served on the Libertarian National Committee https://www.lp.org/ rising from Regional Representative (representing New York and the New England states), was later unanimously elected as national Treasurer/CFO (and re-elected), serving on its Executive Committee among many other national roles. Unique in LP history, Tuniewicz served on the boards of directors of an unprecedented five state party affiliates (New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Michigan, and Massachusetts) and was an early and effective advocate for local organizing and campaigns.
After taking a break from Party activities for several years, Tuniewicz returned to be a delegate to the 2020, 2022 & 2024 conventions. He most recently served through 2024 as Region 6 Representative to the LNC representing the states of MT, ND, SD, SC, MN, IA, WI, IL & UT.
Tuniewicz retired in 2017 at age 55, and now maintains residency in both South Dakota and Baja California, Mexico.
(a more detailed bio follows, which are only highlights)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Political Leadership
Exposed to libertarianism in college in the mid-1980s, Tuniewicz spent a brief stint as a registered Republican after having been mentored and recruited by a founder of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Association (MLGPA, now EqualityMaine) and well-known leader in Maine politics Robin Lambert, with whom he worked. Lambert accompanied him to the Maine Republican Convention in 1990, where Tuniewicz spoke and was elected Cumberland County Treasurer.
He joined the Libertarian Party in the early 1990s, was elected to the board and became the first director of communications for the LPCT https://www.lpct.org/ in 1993.
During his tenure in CT he moderated the first debate for the 1996 Libertarian presidential nomination, with participants in 1995 including Harry Browne, Rick Tomkins, and Irwin Schiff. Tuniewicz pioneered bringing increased legitimacy and visibility to important party positions through a series of public forums with pioneering speakers such as New Haven, Connecticut police chief Nick Pastore (on marijuana legalization and community policing), and Yale Law School professor Akil Amar on (2nd Amendment rights and the individual right to bear arms).
Garnering improved press coverage, the LPCT went on to see increased membership, candidates and votes during his tenure and that of longtime chair Carl Vassar. He personally campaign managed a large (14) slate of local LP candidates in Willimantic, CT in the early 90’s.
Tuniewicz responded to several requests to return to his native New Hampshire to help with a party that was reeling from the loss of 4 sitting Libertarian state representatives, who had established the first state-recognized third-party state delegation since Reconstruction, and later were targeted by other political parties. As chair he led a team that accomplished a record number of LPNH public officeholders through 1998, working with people like John Babiarz, Ken Blevens, Don Gorman and others through 1998. He actively worked on several of Gorman's campaigns, including re-election as state representative.
During the mid 90’s time he was elected as a member of the Libertarian National Committee, representing New York and the seven New England states on a first ballot vote, replacing the sitting Representative. He also became a life member of the party in 1994.
Later in 1998, Tuniewicz ran for national Treasurer with the encouragement & endorsement of David Bergland's vice presidential candidate Jim Lewis. He was unanimously elected Treasurer on a first ballot vote, and subsequently re-elected. During his tenure the party instituted a cash reserve requirement, more rigorous financial reporting/management, and generally professionalized its operations. Tuniewicz initiated the party's highly successful bequest program (now known as "Legacy Libertarian") seeding it during the 1998 convention with his own six-figure commitment, which grew significantly since that time.
As an LPMA/LAMA (then https://www.lpmass.org/ now https://lpofma.org/ ) board member, starting in 1999 Tuniewicz wrote a series of "how-to" articles in the National Libertarian publication "LP News" focusing on local organizing and officeholders providing advice on topics such as how to organize an LP town committee, fundraising/campaigning and getting appointed to a local board/commission. These articles were subsequently republished in state/local Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Party publications.
In 2001, Tuniewicz resigned from the LNC and as Treasurer, suspended his life membership, and in an unprecedented step also revoked his membership certification (the "non-violence" or "non-aggression" pledge). He named Dr. Derryl Martin, a finance professor and fellow LNC member, as assistant treasurer to assure a smooth transition. Several years later he became involved in LP matters again, re-certified, and was a delegate at the 2020, 2022 & 2024 LP National Conventions. He was elected as Region 6’s Alternate to the LNC at the 2022 National Convention, and replaced the sitting regional representative by a vote of the 9 region’s chairs in early 2023. At that term's final meeting, he was censured by a highly divided LNC for sending a letter to the Credentials Committee warning them of their legal liabilities.
Public Service
In 2000 Tuniewicz served on the board of directors of the influential Massachusetts Municipal Association https://www.mma.org/ and the Association of Town Finance Committees https://www.mma.org/members/finance-committees/
A 5-time public officeholder, Mr. Tuniewicz served as a Conservation Commissioner in New Hampshire from 1995-97, and later as an elected official in Easton, Massachusetts https://www.easton.ma.us/ serving on its Finance Committee, School Planning Committee, Town Administrator Search Committee, and other roles. He led the town to become part of the Anti-Defamation League’s https://www.adl.org/ “No Place for Hate” program, now the Human Rights Committee https://www.easton.ma.us/boards_and_committees/humanrightscommittee/index.php In 2000, Tuniewicz also became the first-ever Libertarian appointed to a state commission dealing with international trade, by then MA Governor Paul Cellucci.
Professional Background
Professionally, Tuniewicz most recently served as vice president of enterprise finance for publicly traded UNFI (NYSE: UNFI) https://www.unfi.com/ a $29 billion natural, organic and fresh foods distribution firm, where he led a team of 300 in a broad operational role. Tuniewicz left UNFI prior to its multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Super Value foods in 2018. He previously held senior financial leadership positions with other large well-known firms such as Royal Philips, Intuit, Hospira/Pfizer, Cushman & Wakefield, Konica/Minolta, CCM Hockey,and Starter Sportswear. Tuniewicz has also repeatedly served as an expert witness in US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York and other venues.
In general, Tuniewicz’s professional expertise is in the following areas:
· Using technology to reduce costs and improve performance;
· Organizational design and functional optimization;
· Change management and communication strategies;
· Consensus building & facilitation skills;
· Internal controls;
· Organizational change through continuous improvement;
· Project & program management;
· Developing scalable operating model strategies;
· Value Stream Mapping & Metrics-oriented process analysis & improvement;
· Transaction and rules-based business process outsourcing (BPO).
Trade association leadership
Concurrent with service on the LNC in the 90’s and beyond, Tuniewicz had lengthy board service (including national chairman) of the National Association of Credit Management ("NACM") https://nacm.org/ a 20,000-business member trade association and educational group with active affiliates covering all 50 states and Puerto Rico. At the NACM he participated in dozens of boards/committees, led a successful strategic planning effort, participated in congressional lobbying efforts, and helped the organization enter new business areas. The NACM produced an annual convention with thousands of attendees and full educational programming.
Tuniewicz is a member of the Financial Leadership Council, organized by Robert Half International https://www.roberthalf.com/ .
Tuniewicz has spoken regularly to credit and business groups nationwide on best practices in business-to-business credit and treasury matters including commercial credit scoring, high volume transaction processing, cash application, order and billing administration, shared services, and creating high performing teams. He has been quoted in the The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg News, Business Credit, The Boston Globe, Credit Today, and other business publications.
Educational Background
Growing up in Nashua, New Hampshire Tuniewicz attended local schools there, then graduated with honors from Northeastern University https://www.northeastern.edu/ in Boston, with a BS degree in Finance and International Business. He later completed NACM’s Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at Dartmouth College https://home.dartmouth.edu/
Quotes for attribution:
"I'm committed to helping our candidates find the resources they need to run effective campaigns, and eliminating the petty bickering that has kept our Party divided at times." (1999)
“I’ve done the same work that many in the LP have, and it makes me a better board member. Like many of you, I’ve written for county, state, and national LP newsletters, donated generously to national, state, and local candidates and parties, crafted fundraising letters, campaign brochures and newspaper ads, worked as newsletter editor, given radio, TV, and newspaper interviews, organized outreach efforts, recruited dozens of candidates and managed campaigns, taught at candidate schools, spoken in front of hundreds at LP, community and school groups on behalf of the party” (2000)
“We are facing a very difficult time as an organization on many fronts. I feel we are making mistakes in terms of areas of emphasis, and our reputation as a political party in some areas is suffering in the mind of the voting public. We are spending far too much time, energy and resources fighting our fellow Libertarians. As a Board, my opinion is that we are suffering from a lack of a formal, 3rd-party guided governance process (e.g Policy Governance, here: https://www.carvergovernance.com/model.htm ) that drives positive changes in the way we work. Absent that, it’s a recipe for dysfunction. I am also very concerned that our tradition of 50-state ballot access is very much at risk in 2024.” (March, 2023)