Mark Akpaninyie is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Indo-Pacific on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, working under the leadership of Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks on issues relating to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Before Congress, he worked on the Senate campaign for Jon Ossoff and the presidential campaign for Elizabeth Warren. Prior to the 2020 campaign trail, Mark worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as a research assistant in the Simon Chair in Political Economy and Reconnecting Asia Project. He previously was the Research and Special Assistant for the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski at CSIS and an intern with the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies. Before joining CSIS, he lived in China for over three years, serving as a Fellow with Teach For China and later a lecturer at Baoshan University in Yunnan.

Mark is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a Next Gen National Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project, and a member of Foreign Policy for America’s NextGen Initiative. A proponent for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in foreign policy spaces, Mark is the co-founder of the Black China Caucus and a leadership member of the National Association for Black Engagement with Asia. He graduated with a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University.