Mark Shaw

Mark Shaw is the executive director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), which he co-founded in 2013. Under his leadership, the GI-TOC has grown into a globally influential organisation with over 150 staff members and a globally representative network of more than 800 independent experts. Shaw is recognised as a leading expert on organised crime and the illicit economy, and serves as a member of the advisory board of the UN-affiliated European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, and on the high-level expert group which inputted into the development of the UN approach to transnational organised crime. He worked for 10 years at the UNODC, including as Inter-regional Advisor and Chief of the Criminal Justice Reform Unit. Before joining the UN, Mark held a number of positions in the South African government and civil society where he worked on issues of public safety and urban violence. He holds a PhD in African Political Studies.