Mark K. Shriver
Special Advisor to the President & CEO, Save the Children
Mark K. Shriver is Special Advisor at Save the Children, where he provides strategic guidance to the President and CEO and supports efforts to raise visibility, awareness, and funds for the agency and to advance policy change at the federal, state, and local levels.
Shriver joined Save the Children in 2003 and developed the agency’s domestic early childhood education programs, which today reach children in more than 300 rural communities. He also created Save the Children’s domestic emergencies programs to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children when disaster strikes.
An advocate for children throughout his career, Shriver led a national coalition that convinced Congress to create the National Commission on Children and Disasters. He was appointed to the commission by Senator Harry Reid and elected chairperson by his fellow commissioners; he served in that role for the life of the commission (2008-2011).
In 2013, Shriver created Save the Children’s political advocacy arm, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN). SCAN seeks to build bipartisan solutions and generate voter support for policies that ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to succeed. With a grassroots network that spans all 50 states, SCAN advocates for high-quality early learning and ending child hunger in the U.S., the safety of children arriving at the southern U.S. border, and educating and protecting kids around the world.
Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2002. He was the first Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families, and was appointed Chair of the Children and Youth Subcommittee of Maryland House Ways and Means Committee. He was repeatedly recognized as Outstanding Legislator of the Year by prominent advocacy and civic organizations.
In 1988, Shriver founded the innovative Choice Program, which serves delinquent and at-risk youth through intensive, community-based counseling. He subsequently created The Choice Jobs Program, Inc., which trains, places and supports former Choice clients in jobs, as well as The Choice Middle Schools Program, a model for keeping at-risk middle school children in school.
Shriver received his B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University. A bestselling author, he has written three books, 10 Hidden Heroes, Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis, and A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver. Shriver and his wife, Jeanne, live in Maryland and have three children, Molly, Tommy, and Emma.
