The quiet strength
of vulnerability

KEVIN DEDNER is an experienced public health executive with over twenty-five years of experience solving complex public health problems. Kevin most recently served as founder and CEO of venture-backed Hurdle. At Hurdle, Kevin led the company in implementing the first multicultural telemental healthcare framework, culminating in the expansion of operations to 27 states via relationships with national and regional payers, and community-based partnerships.

 

Kevin’s passion for mental health derives from his own journey of depression recovery. His biggest barrier to effective care was finding a therapist who could truly understand the impact his racialized experiences as an African American man had on his mental health. Through Hurdle’s framework and national reach, Kevin scaled his personal experience to knock down the same barriers to mental healthcare for marginalized communities.

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He currently serves as an Optum Clinical and Scientific Advisory Council member. In 2021, Kevin was named one of the top 50 in Digital Health by Rock Health. In 2022 and 2023, he was named one of the Black healthcare leaders to know by Becker’s Hospital Review.

 

Kevin is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a degree in Political Science. He also holds a Master of Public Health from Benedictine University. He is a frequent speaker at health and health technology conferences and has self-published a number of essays that document his work in public health and mental healthcare. The Joy of the Disinherited is his debut book.

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