Mark Heaney
Joined the Board of Directors in 2026
I’m a lifelong Minnesotan, born and raised in Minneapolis, where I grew up playing sports in the parks, swimming in the lakes, and enjoying the quality of life Minnesota offers families. I’m an avid Twins fan and still suit up for a men’s baseball league.
I’ve practiced consumer protection law for over 20 years, focusing on predatory lending, debt collection abuse, credit reporting errors, auto fraud, and other violations of state and federal consumer law. I got into this work to help level the playing field for Minnesotans and their families and to make sure the marketplace is fair. My firm has handled everything from defending small consumer debt cases to representing thousands of consumers in nationwide class actions. I volunteer my legal services through the Volunteer Lawyers Network, and I serve as chair of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
I work in Minnetonka and represent Minnesotans across the state. I live in Minnetonka with my wife, Amy, and our twin daughters.
While representing consumers harmed by predatory and usurious online loans, I learned that Exodus was not only helping these consumers escape high-cost loans but also advocating for stronger protections before the state legislature to prevent such predatory loans from targeting Minnesotans. I was impressed by their work, so I contacted them to offer my help and support. We’ve been working together ever since.
Who is one person who inspires you and why?
I admire Ralph Nader because he insisted that a marketplace only works when buyers know what they’re actually buying and can’t be preyed upon. When he published Unsafe at Any Speed in 1965, carmakers were selling vehicles with known, hidden defects and blaming the resulting deaths on driver error. That isn’t a free market — it’s a rigged one. His work led to the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and, through Public Citizen and the other groups he founded, to decades of disclosure rules, product standards, and recall authority.
He carried the same fight into banking and consumer credit, pushing for honest disclosure of interest rates and fees and against predatory lending, deceptive terms, and the fine print that traps borrowers who can least afford it. His advocacy shows up in ordinary life — the seat belt, the airbag, the drinking water, the loan you can actually read before signing.
Ralph Nader spent his entire life advocating for consumers and for a safer, more transparent marketplace.