Mark Nichols is the Founder and President of Seven Summits. He has an extensive background in European affairs, energy, infrastructure, commodities, emerging markets and national security. He has worked at the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Wesley K. Clark & Associates. He is also currently a Principal at SeaSpire Advisors, a merchant banking firm based in Chicago.

During the Clinton Administration, Mr. Nichols was Senior Advisor at the State Department in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Europe. He worked on the NATO 50th Anniversary Summit, the Sarajevo Summit and the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, a multi-billion dollar program with the EU to rebuild the infrastructure of the region after the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. During President Clinton’s first term, Mr. Nichols managed humanitarian assistance programs in the Caucuses and Central Asia at USAID in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia’s Office of Emergency and Humanitarian Assistance.

During his tenure at Wesley K. Clark & Associates, Mr. Nichols represented clients in the energy and defense sectors, including an electric vehicle manufacturer, an interoperability defense communications firm, a biometrics firm and a cyber security company. He also set up and ran the firm’s commodities division in the energy and food sectors and created a partnership with a New York-based investment banking firm focused on Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Wesley K. Clark & Associates, Mr. Nichols was Vice President and Treasurer of General Clark’s 2004 presidential campaign.

At SeaSpire Advisors, Mr. Nichols has been involved in the development of a number of commercial and utility scale solar projects, both in the United States and overseas.

Mr. Nichols holds a Masters’ degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. in European History from Bard College. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Stimson Center in Washington DC, a prominent national security think tank. Previously, he served on a number of non-profit boards, including as Trustee of Lyon College, the Arkansas Zoological Foundation and City Year Little Rock. Mr. Nichols is a graduate of the Georgetown Leadership Seminar, the British Council’s European Series, the Young Leaders Program of the Council for the United States and Italy and the Aspen Institute’s Executive Seminar. He is also a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks English, French, Russian and Portuguese. A native Arkansan, he lives in Washington DC.