Over the course of his career, Mariano has produced two documentaries, written for major papers in English and Spanish, published in magazines, worked in broadcast, produced commercials and nonprofit campaigns. He has organized for international human rights efforts and has done considerable work connecting marginalized people to religious, educational, and nonprofit institutions through the power of story. Mariano was born in Mexico City, Mexico, where he learned the value of civic engagement and public discourse. His life and work have taken him from refugee camps in Palestine to garbage-dump communities in Egypt and Guatemala. Mariano is a graduate of Calvin College and has an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College.