Mark Stoughton, Ph.D.

Senior Associate

Contact via Email

Areas of Expertise: International sustainability and corporate responsibility, assessment and mitigation of environmental & social (E&S) impacts, climate risk management, environmental regulation and policy, curriculum development and instruction, mixed-method field research.

Education/Certifications: Ph.D. in Sustainable Industrial Development (Technology, Management and Policy) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); dual Master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Technology and Policy from MIT; Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Virginia; Certificates in Corporate Sustainability and Project Management

Mark is an international sustainability professional and global project, team, and partnership manager with over 25 years of experience. His portfolio comprises on-the-ground work in 25 U.S. states and 25 countries, including 20 across the Global South. He has deep expertise in assessment and mitigation of environmental and social (E&S) impacts and climate risk across multiple economic sectors; corporate sustainability/responsibility; evaluation of environmental regulation and policy for efficiency and effectiveness; and related curriculum development and instruction.

Mark previously served as a leading external E&S risk assessment, mitigation, and compliance expert to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and as an E&S risk management expert across an $80mm portfolio focused on providing multi-sector E&S technical support to international development donors and civil society. Over 2011-2025, Mark led three iterations of USAID’s Global E&S safeguards support projects with on-the-ground activity in 55 countries. He deployed a geographically dispersed, multidisciplinary, matrixed core team and global partner network to provide on-demand safeguards compliance design and implementation, capacity-building, IT, and related analytic support to USAID globally across all development sectors. He was accountable for and achieved responsive, timely, quality, and on-budget delivery.

With a focus on complex and high-risk projects, Mark’s E&S risk management experience includes:

• Conducting field environmental, health, and safety (EHS) reviews, partner E&S due diligence, and compliance reporting meta-analyses and diagnostics.
• Identifying risks and mitigation approaches for transaction support, trade facilitation, and a wide range of sectoral programming.
• Developing and reviewing mitigation plans and frameworks.
• Designing and leading large-scale E&S impact assessments.
• Consulting with impacted entities to assess financial/operational materiality to design and negotiate practicable mitigation, including use of voluntary trade/market standards for E&S risk management.
• Managing pesticide risk assessment/reduction efforts.
• Designing and leading operating unit safeguards soft audits.
• Applying International Finance Corporation (IFC) E&S Performance Standards, World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) Standards, and host country standards via consulting engagements, safeguards, alignment reviews for multi-donor projects, and Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) pipeline reviews.
• Serving as lead developer and trainer at the professional development, graduate, undergraduate and secondary levels, including training on USAID’s flagship Global Development Safeguards training for over 2,500 Agency staff and partner personnel in 12 countries; Agency-wide advanced training series in E&S Impact Assessment for 200+ Agency staff; and field-based training on Improving Subject Matter Expert (SME) Performance with Cleaner Production for over 200+ Agency staff and partners, including training delivery in Namibia.

Mark has managed or held key leadership roles in successful private sector and public-private partnerships to catalyze adoption of more sustainable technologies, practices, and business models in areas including procurement/supply chain, manufacturing, and management information systems. These efforts delivered triple-bottom line gains via blended-capital engagements in the following:

• Commercial-scale distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) and PV with storage (PV+) via the award-winning Strengthening Energy Sector Resilience in Jamaica (public-private partnership).
• Performance-based chemical management services (CMS) to reduce toxics use and worker risk via the Chemical Strategies Partnership (private sector, Pew Charitable Trusts & Heinz Endowments).
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)-aligned facility-level sustainability reporting via the Facility Reporting Project (Ceres, private sector, civil society, and the Joyce Foundation).
• Supply chain environmental management for Korean manufacturers, with the University of Tennessee (private sector and the government of South Korea).

Mark has also extensively designed, managed, and conducted applied mixed-methods field research for E&S risk reduction in developing areas. His efforts have covered multiple sectors (e.g., pesticide risk in agriculture and vector control, natural resource management, and political economy). He managed, edited, and served as a senior expert in a $5mm program of field and consultation-based national biodiversity analyses (aquatic and terrestrial) in 20+ countries across the Global South. In addition, Mark led extensive mixed-methods research examining market and sustainability potential of innovative service-led business models in Japan and the U.S.; circular economy and innovative service-led business model linkages; voluntary sustainability programs; and effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory programs.

Mark is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Ghana) and has long-term experience in Japan. Mark has a Ph.D. in Sustainable Industrial Development (Technology, Management and Policy) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); dual Master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Technology and Policy from MIT; and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Virginia. He is currently enrolled in a Graduate Certificate Program in Artificial Intelligence for Business at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business, with completion expected in Spring 2027, and holds Certificates in Corporate Sustainability (Cornell) and Project Management (Portland State University).