Mark Donig, Of Counsel, is a corporate attorney in Washington, DC, whose practice fuses startup law, venture capital, social impact and international commercial relations and diplomacy. Throughout his tenure in BigLaw (Jones Day and Covington & Burling), Mark maintained an active humanitarian pro bono practice, having led or co-led successful efforts to obtain the freedom of American hostages in the Middle East and Asia, and defend pro-democracy dissidents from Sudan, Uganda, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Mark is a two-time recipient (2017 and 2019) of The Certificate of Special Recognition from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for his humanitarian work.
Mark is the co-founder and serves on the Board of Directors of the African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL), which trains, educates and unites the next generation of human rights leaders from the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, Mark serves on the Board of Directors of the James Foley Foundation, and serves as an advisor to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the primary advocacy organization on behalf of the families of the hostages held in Gaza. In 2020, Mark served as a policy advisor on technology, democracy and human rights for President Biden’s Presidential campaign.
Mark’s writings (either solo authorship or co-authorship) on international economic diplomacy, human rights and foreign policy have been published in Foreign Policy, CNN, American Interest, National Interest, and elsewhere.
