Mark K. Shriver, senior vice president of U.S. programs and advocacy at Save the Children and CEO of Save the Children Action Network, will deliver the commencement address at Mount St. Mary’s University’s 211th commencement exercises on Saturday, May 11. Shriver will also receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters during the ceremony.
Shriver has dedicated his career to working to ensure that every child has an equal chance to succeed. He joined Save the Children in 2003 and developed the agency’s domestic early childhood and school-age education programs, which today reach children in more than 100 underserved rural communities. He also created Save the Children’s domestic emergencies programs to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children before, during and after disasters occur.
“Our honored speaker will offer advice to our graduating class about servant leadership and leading an ethical purpose-driven life, areas of focus for many of our students and alumni,” said President Timothy E. Trainor, Ph.D. “I am confident Mark Shriver’s address will inspire the Class of 2019 to go forth from their educational experience at the Mount and pursue personal and professional service efforts.”
Shriver is the author of Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis and his bestselling memoir, A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver.
In 2013, Shriver established Save the Children’s political advocacy arm, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN). With a bipartisan grassroots network of more than 280,000 supporters across all 50 states, SCAN is working to ensure that every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early childhood education and to end preventable maternal and child deaths worldwide.
Before joining Save the Children, Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates He was the first chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families, and was appointed chair of the Children and Youth Subcommittee of Maryland's House Ways and Means Committee. Shriver also founded the innovative Choice Program, which serves delinquent and at-risk youth through intensive, community-based counseling.
Shriver received his bachelor's degree from The College of the Holy Cross and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University. He lives with his wife, Jeanne, and their three children, Molly, Tommy and Emma, in Maryland.