Mark S. Ward is a retired foreign service officer who was the Director of the Syria Transition Assistance and Response Team (START), which is based out of U.S. Embassy Ankara and is responsible for coordinating all U.S. assistance to Syria from Turkey. Prior to this role, he served as the Deputy Special Coordinator in the Office of Middle East Transition at the U.S. Department of State, the office that coordinates all civilian assistance to Middle Eastern countries in transition to democracy. Mr. Ward is a Career Minister in the Senior Foreign Service of the United States.