Previously featured in our Top 10 Culture Leaders on the Hill list, Mark Dreiling is the Chief of Staff for Rep. Don Bacon – a position he’s held for nine years this December.

Mark originally started on the Hill around the turn of the century as a young staffer who came straight from a campaign. After about a year and a half, he returned to Nebraska and worked on a Senate campaign, and then for Nebraska’s nonpartisan, unicameral state legislature.

🇺🇸 In 2005, he left the political world to join the Air Force, where he served as a space operations officer and as a missile warning crew commander. After retiring, he met Rep. Bacon – who had also just retired from the Air Force – and suggested that he run for Congress. Coincidentally, Mrs. Bacon suggested the same thing the day before. “The rest is history,” Mark says.

Mark’s journey wasn’t always easy, though. In 2011, he was told that he had developed a rare liver condition and that after ten years, it would become unstable and he would die without a transplant.

“Maintaining a positive outlook is important for me and it took a lot to compartmentalize what I was going through. Fortunately, we work in a place with so many amazing people. A kind word and a hug as you are walking down the hallway can go a long way,” Mark says.

❤️ Three staffers were willing to give a bit more than kind words. They were in the process of getting tested in order to be a partial organ donor for Mark while he was expecting his life to end.

“I can’t think of anything that speaks higher to the character of the people in our office than the fact that they were willing to put themselves in grave danger to save another life,” Mark says.

One month after the ten-year mark, Mark’s labs became unstable. He endured “constant physical torture” for six months leading up to his transplant. 

“I am here only because of the genius and compassion of others, coupled with the fact that we live in a country where we value the integrity of the individual so much that our smartest minds have turned death into a fighting chance to live again,” Mark says.

💪 Four days after his surgery, Mark walked two miles in one day. Eight days after his surgery, he returned to work.

One more thing to know: Mark’s an open book. If you want to know more about his story, just ask!
 

⬇️ Get to know more about Mark ⬇️