Bobby rejoined The Charles Group, LLC as President in April, 2005 after serving
from 2003 to 2005 as Assistant Secretary of State, for International Narcotics and
Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), under Secretaries Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
His tenure in the Bush Administration led to the development of strong international
relationships, which reinforce his strong ties with many in Congress and the administration.
Charles founded The Charles Group, LLC in 1999 upon leaving service as Staff Director
and Chief Counsel for the National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal
Justice Subcommittee (GRO) in the House of Representatives from 1995-1999. Charles
also served Subcommittee Chairman J. Dennis Hastert, eventually Speaker of the House,
as chief staffer to The Speaker’s Task Force on a Drug Free America from 1997-1999
and as top staffer to the Bi-Partisan Drug Policy Group from 1995-1999. Charles
maintains strong ties with House leadership.
A former litigator in New York and Washington, Charles worked at Weil Gotshal &
Manges and Kramer Levin between 1988 and 1995, clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit, and taught both Government Oversight and Cyberlaw at Harvard
University Extension School from 1998-2001. In 2000, he was awarded Harvard's prestigious
Petra T. Shattuck Award for Excellence in Teaching by the University. In the first
Bush administration, Charles served in the White House as Deputy Associate Director,
Office of Domestic Policy and served as a temporary appointee in the first-term
Reagan White House during three stretches of 1981, '82 and '83.
A regular writer and commentator in print and broadcast media, Charles remains close
to many top decision makers in Washington, and formerly penned a column for the
Washington Times. He authored Narcotics and Terrorism, a 2004 volume explaining
national security and homeland security implications inherent in the worldwide illicit
drug trade. He has also authored a number of academic studies and law review pieces.
He was a Navy Intelligence Reservist for ten years, and served on active duty at
the Pentagon immediately following the September 11th attacks.
Charles received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in New York, M.A. in Politics,
Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University in England, and A.B. from Dartmouth
College in New Hampshire. Raised in Maine, he now lives in Maryland with his wife
and two children.
Ben works with The Charles Group’s corporate and non-profit clients to advance important
public policy initiatives in Congress and executive agencies, and market products,
services, and programs to government customers. He also provides policy research
and analysis for national security organizations in the public sector. Ben has helped
non-profits and state governments win directed grants through federal appropriations.
He has also managed coalitions of diverse organizations to successfully drive legislative
change on public safety and homeland security issues. Prior to joining The Charles
Group at its inception in 1999, Ben served as Staff Assistant on the Subcommittee
on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice in the U.S. House
of Representatives. Ben earned a BA in Government (International Relations) from
Dartmouth College, and an MBA (Strategy and Entrepreneurship) from the University
of Maryland. He was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa.
Marina Charles brings a depth of legal and administrative experience to the The
Charles Group, LLC team. Having spent twelve years as a corporate transactional
attorney, Marina has extensive experience in contracts and regulatory analysis as
well as international business matters. Marina manages the company's operations
and participates in the development of government and regulatory white papers and
other company projects.
Marina received her BA, cum laude, in Government from Harvard University and her
JD from Columbia University Law School, where she was a Stone Scholar. She is fluent
in French and Russian and lives in Maryland with Bobby and their two children.
Jessica joined the Charles Group, LLC in 2006. From 2004-2005 she served as Robert
Charles’s Executive Assistant while he was the Assistant Secretary of State for
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). In 2005 she went on to
be the Special Assistant for Ambassador John R. Miller in the State Department’s
Global Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
From 1998-2003 Jessica served in the United States Army as an Administrative Specialist.
From 2001-2003 she was assigned to the 308th Military Intelligence Battalion in
Fort Meade, Maryland. There, she was the manager of the Personnel Office and was
also the Executive Assistant to the Battalion Commander. From 1999-2001 Jessica
was stationed in Wackernheim, Germany where she was part of ¼ Air Defense Artillery
Battalion.
Jessica is The Charles Group’s Office Director and assists in government affairs
issues. She was raised in Barrington, RI and currently resides in Capitol Heights,
MD with her son Shawn.
Connor recently graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin at River
Falls with a B.S. in History and a minor in Criminal Justice. Connor served four
years of active service in the U.S. Marine Corps and honorably completed his service
obligation as a non-commissioned officer in 2002. During the summer of 2007, Connor
interned with The Charles Group, LLC and graduated from the Engalitcheff Institute
on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University. He is a
member of the academic honors fraternity Phi Kappa Phi and is currently a policy
analyst at The Charles Group, LLC focusing on transnational crime and narcotics
trafficking, counter-terrorism and related international security issues. Connor
is originally from Wisconsin and currently lives in Arlington, Virginia.