Mark Shields is a senior communications officer for the Walton Family Foundation’s Environment Program, where he leads communications strategy and grantmaking that support journalism and other communications aligned with program priorities. His work focuses on strengthening storytelling and partnerships that help advance the program’s environmental goals.

Before joining the foundation full-time, Mark spent nearly a decade advising Walton’s Gulf Coast restoration work in Louisiana as a communications consultant. He previously served as a vice president at Spitfire Strategies and held communications roles at the Human Rights Campaign and the American Red Cross.

A native Midwesterner, Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and broadcasting from Marquette University.