Voices of Leadership

Mark Shriver is President of Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School & Corporate Work Study Program, a school serving young people in the Washington DC area. Hailing from 60 zip codes, 85% of students qualify for free and reduced meals. Every student participates in a rigorous college-prep curriculum while working at local businesses once a week. 100% of graduates since the school’s inception in 2007 have been accepted to college.

In addition, Mark is Senior Advisor at Save the Children. Shriver 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 200 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 disaster strikes.

An advocate for children throughout his career, Shriver led a national coalition that convinced Congress to create the National Commission on Children and Disasters. He was appointed to the Commission by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada; he was elected chairperson by his fellow commissioners and served in that role for the life of the Commission (2008-2011).

In 2013, Shriver created Save the Children’s political advocacy arm, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN). SCAN seeks to build bipartisan solutions and generate voter support for policies that ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to succeed. With a grassroots network of 375,000 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, to protect migrant children arriving at the southern U.S. border, and to promote girls’ empowerment around the world.

Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2002. 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. He was repeatedly recognized as Outstanding Legislator of the Year by prominent advocacy and civic organizations.

In 1988, Shriver founded the innovative Choice Program, which serves delinquent and at-risk youth through intensive, community-based counseling. He subsequently created The Choice Jobs Program, Inc., which trains, places, and supports former Choice clients in jobs, as well as The Choice Middle Schools Program, a model for keeping at-risk middle school children in school.

Shriver received his B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Shriver is also a N.Y. Times bestselling author of several books, including Alphabet by Heart, Pairs of People, 10 Hidden Heroes, Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis, and A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver.

Shriver lives with his wife, Jeanne, and their three children, Molly, Tommy and Emma, in Maryland.

Tim Shriver is husband, father, grandfather, educator, best-selling author, Chairman of Special Olympics and Co-founder of UNITE.

As Chairman of the Special Olympics, he has driven the largest expansion of the organization in its history—growing the movement from one million athletes to over six million athletes, partners and volunteers in 193 countries around the world. As he passed the CEO torch several years ago, he began asking questions like, “How can the example and spirit of the athletes of Special Olympics provide a model for a divided world?” and “How can SEL skills like empathy, self-awareness, and perspective-taking help our whole nation?” Hundreds of young people, faith leaders, educators, philosophers, scientists, activists and political figures have joined the conversation. Together, they concluded that in spite of the divides, the world is hungry to be reminded of its common humanity.

This led Shriver to put his heart into launching Unite as its founding CEO, and Bigger Picture, a Golisano- backed media platform on a mission to tell stories across podcasts, television, and film that reveal the hope in our common humanity. As Chairman of UNITE, he has helped pioneer a “dignity movement” powered by the Dignity Index—a new tool to help Americans disagree without demonizing each other—and catalyze dozens of moonshots that unite Americans in common purpose to tackle our country’s most intractable challenges.

Shriver earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University, a Master’s degree from Catholic University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Connecticut. Before joining Special Olympics in 1996, Shriver co-founded the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the leading school reform organization in the field of social and emotional learning (SEL). He is currently chair of the Collaborative.

Shriver also has a record of harnessing the power of Hollywood to spread hope and connection across differences as the executive producer of several films — including Amistad, The Loretta Claiborne Story, The Ringer, Front of the Class, The Peanut Butter Falcon, and As Far As They Can Run. He is the author of the NYT bestseller Fully Alive – Discovering What Matters Most, and co-editor of The Call to Unite: Voices of Hope and Awakening. He has over a dozen honorary degrees which he does not deserve but which he happily accepted on behalf of those who give unselfishly to the work of justice and joy.

Andrea Mitchell is NBC News’ Chief Washington and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent. A veteran political correspondent, Mitchell has covered every presidential campaign for NBC News since 1980, as well as reporting on national security issues across all NBC News platforms. 

She appears regularly on NBC Nightly News, TODAY, Meet the Press, and NBC News NOW. Mitchell’s extensive and varied reports over the years include all of the Reagan/Gorbachev arms control summits, a series of exclusive interviews with Cuba’s late President Fidel Castro, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Iran nuclear negotiations, conflicts in Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo as well as assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. 

Mitchell has played a prominent role in U.S. political coverage, serving as a panelist in the 1988 Bush-Dukakis presidential debate and the NBC News Democratic Primary debate in 2015. In 2019, she co-moderated the fifth Democratic presidential debate hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post in Atlanta.  

From 2008 to 2025, Mitchell hosted Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, offering in-depth analysis and interviews on politics and foreign affairs. 

Mitchell has been honored for her distinguished reporting, receiving the 2025 Peabody Career Achievement Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 40th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, The International Radio and Television Society Foundation’s Giant of Broadcasting and Electronic Arts Honor, the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Freedom of the Press Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the Leonard Zeidenberg Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for her contribution to the protection of First Amendment freedoms. Mitchell was also recognized by New York Women in Communications with the prestigious Matrix Award for her excellence in broadcast journalism and won a Gracie Award for Outstanding Reporter/Correspondent.

In September 2005, Mitchell authored the best-selling memoir, Talking Back, chronicling her experiences as one of the first women to cover the White House, Congress, and U.S. foreign policy. 

A native of New York, Mitchell received a B.A. degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where she later served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors. She is currently an Emeritus Trustee and created the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. In 2018, Mitchell delivered the University’s Commencement Address, receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. 

Mitchell is married to former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. They reside in Washington, D.C.