Steven Kendrick, MBA, brings 16 years of experience in health and human services management to the OPEN MINDS team. His areas of expertise in addiction recovery management and leadership include operations management, information technology, strategic planning, project management and implementation, outsourcing, risk management, and executive leadership.

Mr. Kendrick is currently the Executive Director of S.T.E.P.S., Inc., a non-profit, publicly supported organization, providing substance use, outpatient, intensive outpatient, and DUI education services, in Bakersfield, California. Before joining S.T.E.P.S., Inc., Mr. Kendrick was the Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for Ashley Addiction Treatment, formerly Father Martin’s Ashley, in Havre de Grace, Maryland. In this role, Mr. Kendrick provides leadership and management for all operations, including information systems, finance, facilities management, quality and compliance, human resources, admissions, health information management, utilization review, and marketing. He is also responsible for managing all outpatient and intensive outpatient services.

Prior to joining Ashley Addiction, Mr. Kendrick served as the Vice President of Information Technology & Clinical Services Support for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Center City, Minnesota. In this role, he provided strategic leadership for technology and clinical support for the entire organization, oversaw a staff of 45 people with a $25M annual combined capital and operating budget, and implemented a number of technological advances throughout the organization. During his tenure, he was responsible for building and implementing an electronic medical record and an Oracle ERP system, developing and expanding web services, standardizing clinical practices and training, and collaborating with the Hazelden Graduate School’s leadership team to develop distance learning products as a service line.

Previously, Mr. Kendrick served as the President & Chief Operating Officer for FireSummit, Inc. in St. Paul, Minnesota. FireSummit was a start-up company that developed innovative network infrastructure software that prioritized applications on computer networks. During his time with the company, Mr. Kendrick was responsible for all aspects of establishing company operations, including moving product to market and development of human resources, training, business planning, budgeting, software development, and business development and sales.

Before working at the start-up, Mr. Kendrick was the Director of Engineering, Technical Services, & Project Management for United Healthcare Group in Golden Valley, Minnesota. In this role, he managed all of United Healthcare’s national network services, which he was responsible for consolidating into one completely integrated National Network in partnership with AT&T.

Previously, Mr. Kendrick worked for Pacific Telesis Corporation (AT&T) in San Diego, California, where he served in various management and leadership positions before moving into the healthcare space.

Mr. Kendrick earned his Master of Business Administration from San Diego State University and his Bachelor of Science in Business and Leadership from the University of Redlands in California.