Mark Tavlarides

Mr. Tavlarides came to Van Scoyoc Associates after more than 20 years of service within both the Legislative and Executive Branches of the U.S. Government. He was one the youngest people ever to serve as Staff Director of a Congressional subcommittee, and he was the main legislative strategist on international security affairs issues in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Mr. Tavlarides’s service in Government culminated in a senior position on the White House National Security Council staff, the organization through which the President performs his essential duty of protecting the country. As Director of Legislative Affairs there, Mr. Tavlarides played a key role in furthering the Clinton Administration’s foreign policy, such as ending the war in Kosovo and improving relations between Greece and Turkey. At the Pentagon, Mr. Tavlarides spent five years as Senior Special Assistant to the Secretary for International Security Affairs in the Office of Legislative Affairs. As such, he wrestled with difficult issues such as arms exports, troop deployments to hot spots around the globe, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions. On Capitol Hill, Mr. Tavlarides served in several important staff positions, including nine years as Staff Director of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations. During this time, Tavlarides worked to improve and strengthen U.S. relations with the United Nations and expand respect for human rights in the conduct of American foreign policy. Since joining Van Scoyoc Associates in 2001, Mr. Tavlarides has built a practice centered on international relations, but extending naturally into business, trade, defense, aerospace, and other issues. His is a well-known presence on Embassy Row and among the constellation of international think tanks and policy institutions based in Washington. Mr. Tavlarides holds a Bachelor of Science in History from Towson University in Maryland and has done graduate work at The George Washington University.