Bringing in more than 20 years of federal experience working in the United States Congress and with a multitude of government agencies, Mark A. Zelden joins Adams and Reese in 2011 as a Governmental Affairs Advisor in the Washington, DC office, and as a member of the firm’s Governmental Relations team.
In addition to governmental relations, Mark’s clients cover a broad spectrum of interests and practice areas, including health care, education, transportation, and local municipalities.
Mark has experience lobbying on behalf of several city governments, including Jasper, Alabama; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Redondo Beach, California.
Mark’s representative and other previous experience include:
- Co-founder of Bell, Heroux & Zelden, a government affairs and strategic planning consulting firm, and president of Louisiana-based firm, Zelden Consulting Group.
- Senior advisor to the government relations firm, the C2 Group, in Washington, DC, which provides government affairs consulting services to Fortune 100 and 500 companies and representing clients before the Congressional and Executive branches of the federal government.
- Legislative staff member of the former Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Robert Livingston (R-LA.) and legislative director to Robert Aderholt (R-AL), currently a Member of the House Appropriations Committee. During his service, Mark coordinated work on the House Appropriations Committee, and was associate professional staff on the Transportation Subcommittee. He handled numerous highway and transit reauthorizations, the Water Development Resources Act, along with historic preservation legislation. During the 104th Congress, Mark saved United States taxpayers $12 million by eliminating a wasteful federal parking garage as part of a disaster assistance measure for California earthquake relief.
In his community work, Mark funded a diabetes health program with the Department of the Army in the Republic of the Marshall Islands to assist with serious health issues among the native Marshallese populations. In Alabama, he upgraded the forensic equipment for local law enforcement to dramatically improve the detection and prosecution of child sex offenders. In New Orleans, Mark facilitated the opening of the first new hospital in the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the Saint Charles Surgical Hospital.
Mark has served on a number of boards and commissions and is currently a member of the Bicentennial Commission on the Battle of New Orleans after having received an appointment from the Speaker of the Louisiana House, Jim Tucker. Mark is also a board member of the New Orleans BioInnovation Networking Group (NOBING), a nonprofit initiative founded to support and facilitate biotech entrepreneurship across southeast Louisiana for scientists/entrepreneurs, business facilitators, lawyers and venture capitalists.
Mark earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Louisiana State University and his master’s degree in American History from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
Married to his wife, Dina Soulant, for 17 years, Mark also enjoys the company of his children, Sam, Mary Elizabeth, Anne, William and Elise. He enjoys reading history, playing tennis and travel with his family.
Mark A. Zelden is not licensed to practice law.
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