Speaker: Mark Simakovsky, Founding Partner, Heartland Global Advisors, LLC and Former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, USAID

Topic: USAID's Past, Present, and Future and Resilience, Recovery, and Retrenchment in Ukraine
Bio: Mark Simakovsky is a global strategist and expert policy advisor recognized for leading national security at the highest levels of the executive branch. Mark most recently served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau of Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), serving as USAID's lead on Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and Russia policy, advising the Administrator on the shifting regional dynamics in the Region, and defending U.S. interests in multiple Congressional and international engagements.
Previously, Mark worked for seven years as a Senior Vice President at Beacon Global Strategies, LLC. Prior to Beacon, Mark was the Europe/NATO Chief of Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy. In this position, he helped oversee the Department's European force posture, regional engagement, deterrence, and reassurance initiatives in the wake of the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mark has held roles as Russia Country Director in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy, where he led the Department's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014; Eurasia Strategy Advisor/NATO Coordinator and Georgia/Moldova Country Director in the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of Russian Affairs, U.S. Department of State; and Brookings Congressional National Security Fellow in the Office of Senator Mark Warner. Mark is a Lifetime Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
In recognition of his leadership and outstanding service, Mark received numerous awards from the Department of Defense, State, and USAID. Mark earned a Master of Science in Foreign Service, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University, and was a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow in Russia. He studied at St. Petersburgh State Technical University and was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Georgia in 2005-2006. Mark earned his Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs from Miami University (Oxford) where he earned honors distinction for a senior thesis on Russian foreign policy. Mark speaks Russian. He and his wife currently reside in Chevy Chase, MD with their three children.