Mark Tavlarides

Mark Tavlarides is a Principal in the BGR International and Trade Practice and has nearly four combined decades of experience working for the federal government and in advocacy.

He currently works for an array of foreign governments, helping them build stronger ties with the U.S. government – from Capitol Hill to the executive branch. On behalf of his clients, Mark focuses on political, economic and security issues.

Mark also works with U.S. companies that have a global footprint. They rely on his foreign policy expertise to shape their business agendas.

Mark’s high-energy problem solving and effective advocacy work gets results.

Mark joined BGR after 16 years of advocating in Washington on behalf of corporations, nonprofits and sovereign governments. From crisis management to advising foreign sovereigns on how to improve relations with the United States, Mark takes a comprehensive approach to client management. He has successfully removed language from national security legislation that would have prohibited funding to a strategic partner of the United States and obtained funding for a major malaria program that has saved thousands of lives on behalf of an NGO; Mark truly is a full-service operator.

Prior to joining the private sector, Mark served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Security Council, where President Bill Clinton tapped Mark’s expertise in leading efforts to generate congressional support for the president’s national security strategy.

Mark joined the White House from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he served in the Legislative Affairs Bureau as the Senior Special Assistant for International Security Affairs. He previously spent 10 years serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations. As the subcommittee’s staff director, he worked to improve and strengthen US relations with the United Nations and advanced measures related to foreign aid. Among his key accomplishments was participating in the enactment of legislation that established the Child Survival Fund, which provides life-saving interventions for children in impoverished areas of the world.

A true D.C. native, Mark was born and raised in the District, even attending D.C. public schools. Mark received his Bachelor of Science from Towson State University.

• Congress and Foreign Affairs
• National Security Policy and Foreign Sovereign Representation

• Towson State University

  BS