Mark P. Lagon

Mark P. Lagon is the Chief Policy Officer, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Senior Fellow, Trinity Forum. Lagon plays a leadership role in developing and advancing Friends’ policy and advocacy work to support U.S. investment in global health, particularly through the Global Fund. Among his numerous studies of global governance and partnerships is the book Human Dignity and the Future of Global Institutions.

A respected scholar and former ambassador, Mark has recently served as a Centennial Fellow and Distinguished Senior Scholar in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has served under former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell (leading efforts against human trafficking, and for international organizations’ reform) and also with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Republican Policy Committee.

Previously, as President of Freedom House, Mark led the non-profit organization in its work to defend human rights and promote democratic change. From 2010 to 2014, he was Global Politics and Security Chair at Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service Program, and served simultaneously as Adjunct Senior Fellow for Human Rights at the Council on Foreign Relations. Earlier, he worked as Executive Director and CEO of Polaris.

Mark earned his Ph.D. from Georgetown University and his A.B. from Harvard College, both in Government.

An audience member holds up a "Fund PEPFAR" sign, during President Barack Obama's speech at a campaign event at Herman Park in Boone, Iowa, on August 13, 2012.
Governance

PEPFAR in a Global Democratic Recession

by Mark P. Lagon

At age twenty, PEPFAR's continued success depends on weathering an illiberal wave worldwide

a young man wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a blue surgical face mask, sits on a plastic chair outside a mobile TB testing clinic
Governance

Why the Global Fund Is Important to U.S. Foreign Policy

by Mark P. Lagon

The Global Fund is pivotal to tackling current pandemics and emerging threats

Soldiers from the U.S. Army 615th Engineer Company, 52nd Engineer Battalion put on one of three pairs of protective gloves during the final session of personal protective equipment training at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado October 23, 2014. The engineers were getting their final training prior to being deployed to Africa as part of the U.S. military's response to the Ebola crisis.
Governance

Global Health and Democracy: Managing Two Top U.S. Priorities

by Mark P. Lagon

U.S. foreign policy commitment to both health and democratic norms is imperative

Copy of an old papyrus seen in a souvenir shop in Cairo Egypt. Female genital mutilation is an archaic practice that most likely originated in Pharaonic Egypt. The image is of a papyrus GETTY/Izzet Keribar
Gender

Ending Female Genital Mutilation

by Mahnaz M. Harrison, Mark P. Lagon

Best practices are known and political will may finally be here to end this extreme form of discrimination against women

Famous singer and social activist Bono attends a Senate Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee hearing on foreign assistance in Washington D.C. on April 12, 2016. The photo shows Bono at a long table with several rows of chairs behind him. The chairs are filled with people who appear to be laughing. The REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Governance

How to Tackle Global Problems in an Age of Populism

by Chris Collins, Mark P. Lagon

Appetites for investment do exist today to define achievable goals, apply effective tools, and solve global challenges