Mark Lu was born in China and grew up in the Bay Area of California. He graduated from American University with a double-major in Economics and Political Science and was a member of the summer 2021 cohort of Columbia University’s Lede Program for Data Journalism, where he worked on statistical analysis and data visualization projects. At AU, Mark served as Editor-in-Chief of a political op-ed publication and worked as a financial researcher in the on-campus fight for fossil fuel divestment. Aside from reporting, Mark is a lover of film, a connoisseur of local cuisine, and a card-carrying member of the ACLU. Mark was an intern with D.C. Witness for during the summer of 2020.