Mark Fafard
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Management Consulting Expert
Jacksonville, United States
Toptal member since September 7, 2026
Mark takes ideas from research to a launched, working result. He designs and runs research and evaluation, builds and validates business models, and designs, develops, and beta-tests AI-integrated platforms. He leads launch and marketing strategy, provides training at various levels, and secures grants and partnerships. With 16 years in healthcare and research operations, he has structured co-ownership agreements and built tools across multiple industries.
Career Highlights
Case Studies
Research Operations Workflow Platform
Small Business Class-based Operations
Expertise
- Analytical Thinking
- Anthropic
- Business Development
- Needs Analysis
- Operations
- Pattern Recognition
- Research
- Workflow
Work Experience
Founder
Fafard AI Solutions
- Led structured discovery, design, and delivery of custom operational tools as fixed-price, one-time builds the client owns outright.
- Operated internal tooling portfolio that doubles as client-facing proof points.
- Led business development, proposal writing, pricing, and client onboarding.
Clinical Research Manager
University of Florida College of Medicine Jacksonville
- Provided strategic leadership for the My Needs Network and the Community Entrepreneurial Collaborative.
- Developed strategic partnerships, secured funding, and launched tools and platforms.
- Served on UF Small Business Relations Mentor Protégé Program and Planning Committee.
- Directed proposal development across multiple grants.
- Led Office of Research Affairs' digital infrastructure builds.
- Managed graduate and undergraduate public health interns across multiple projects.
Co-founder
Community Entrepreneurial Collaborative (CEC)
- Secured Community Foundation of Northeast Florida grant as lead author.
- Designed and launched a web platform serving as a centralized entrepreneurial networking hub with automated matching, free lead referral tools, and virtual landing pages.
- Applied methodology and framework to transition into an AI-integrated platform.
- Built partnerships across university research infrastructure, educational institutions, business development organizations, and community partners.
Founder and Managing Director
My Needs Network (MNN)
- Established a co-ownership agreement with the University of Florida covering software, database, and AI/ML frameworks.
- Designed and implemented software licensing agreement and replicable commercial model capabilities.
- Led the development of an organization-specific reinforced language model for personalized resource matching and intelligent navigation.
- Directed accessibility conformance testing and consistent software beta testing runs.
- Structured the content library on a community-validated taxonomy of need areas.
- Implemented structured evaluation of AI output and managed years of beta testing.
- Secured United Way Health Literacy Micro-Grant partnership for language model development.
- Designed and executed an IRB-approved two-phase CBPR study (UFIRB201601279 and UFIRB201701781) establishing the evidence foundation for every platform feature.
- Published peer-reviewed research in the Journal of Participatory Research Methods (2025).
- Designed and executed multi-channel marketing campaigns.
Clinical Research Manager
Baptist Health Research Institute
- Served as primary liaison among BHRI, study sponsors, Baptist administration, IRBs, investigators, and clinical research coordinators.
- Led grant submission for federal and foundation funding as primary author and grant manager.
- Authored research manuscripts, SOPs, and technical documentation.
Education
Master's Degree in Community Health Promotion and Health Education
University of North Florida - Jacksonville, FL, USA
Bachelor's Degree in History
University of North Florida - Jacksonville, FL, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology
University of North Florida - Jacksonville, FL, USA
Skills
Finance
Business Intelligence (BI), Market Research, Fundraising, Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Startup Funding, Pricing, Comparable Company Analysis, Budgeting, Lifetime Value (LTV)
Output Software
SharePoint
Data & Analysis Software
Intact Software
Other
Anthropic, Qualtrics, Qualitative Research, Research, Needs Analysis, Analytical Thinking, Technical Writing, Writing & Editing, Pattern Recognition, Workflow, Operations, Business Development, Partnerships, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Strategy Planning, Growth Strategy, Business Operations, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Claude, Dashboards, Data Visualization, Reporting, Marketing Strategy, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Digital Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing, Management Consulting, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Market Research & Analysis, Growth Marketing, Risk & Compliance, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Software as a Service (SaaS), Marketplace Platforms, Product-market Fit, Capital Planning, Supabase, GitHub, AWS Copilot, Microsoft Power Automate, Outlook, OneDrive, Microsoft Power BI, Evaluation, Qualitative Analysis, Community Development, Communication, Grants, Public Health, Primary Research, Mixed Method Research, Ethnography, Cultural Adaptability, Marketing, B2B Partnerships, Contract, Protocol Development, Negotiation, Clinical Research, Population Health, Training & Training Content Development, Small Business Management, Scaling, Budget Management
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