Mark Ritchie is a founding board member and President of the Food, Agriculture, and Water Division at Graphene Valley Corporation. From 2006 to 2015, he served as Minnesota’s elected Secretary of State and was elected President of the National Association of Secretaries of State. In this role, he also served on Minnesota’s Executive Council, the Senior Advisory Board of the Minnesota National Guard, and the state’s four-member Board of Investment, which oversees a
$150 billion public employee pension fund.

After leaving public office, Ritchie continued his commitment to service as President of Global Minnesota, one of the nation’s largest international affairs councils,
as Minnesota’s Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, and as National Secretary of the U.S. Federal Election Assistance Commission Advisory Board.

Earlier in his career, Ritchie held senior positions with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, where he represented the state as part of the U.S. Trade Representative’s delegation to the World Trade Organization’s founding ministerial. Since 2012, he has also led Minnesota’s public–private effort to bring an International Exposition (World’s Fair) to the state, serving as Chair of Minnesota’s World Fair Bid Committee Educational Fund and as National Secretary of Expo USA. Currently, he chairs the Military Historical Society of Minnesota, leading the statewide initiative to build a new Military and Veterans Museum scheduled to open on July 4, 2026—America’s 250th birthday.

Ritchie’s lifelong service has earned wide recognition, including being named Twin Cities International Citizen of the Year twice (2000 and 2018), receiving the Dwight D. Eisenhower Excellence in Public Service Award, and numerous honors for his support of the U.S. armed forces, such as the Patriotic Employer Award, the Patriotic Civilian Service Award, and the Civil Servant of the Year Federal Executive Council Award. In his final year as Secretary of State, he was also recognized by the Minnesota Business Leadership Network for advancing accessibility in voting and business creation for Minnesotans with disabilities.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from Iowa State University and a master’s degree from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.