For Mark Zemelman, Kaiser Foundation’s recently retired GC, joining the legal department was a full circle experience—his father was one of the first physicians in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, which is the KP medical group in Southern California. In this episode of B.S.: Beyond Stereotypes, Mark shares with Merle Vaughn his self-directed career journey and how his cultural background has informed his unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Mark Zemelman joined Kaiser Permanente in 1991. From 1998 until his promotion to general counsel in 2010, he managed a group of lawyers providing legal support for the corporate and business operations of Kaiser Permanente. Historically, his individual legal practice has been primarily in the areas of regulation of tax-exempt health plans and hospitals, business litigation, negotiation and drafting of contracts, and environmental law.

Mark has a long-standing commitment to diversity in the legal profession. With his guidance, the legal department at Kaiser Permanente has greatly increased the use of women- and minority-owned law firms, as well as developed internal programs that are resulting in increased diversity and inclusion within the department. He retired from Kaiser at the end of December 2021.

Mark was an active member of the board of directors of the California Minority Counsel Program for many years and is frequently invited to speak and brainstorm with industry leaders about further diversifying the legal profession.

Mark graduated magna cum laude from UC Hastings College of the Law and served as judicial extern for Justice Joseph Grodin of the California Supreme Court.