Leadership Team
Welcome to United Dental Partners, where a dedicated and dynamic leadership team steers the course towards excellence in oral healthcare. Our leadership is defined by a collective commitment to advancing dental services and ensuring access to exceptional care. At the forefront of the organization, our leaders bring a wealth of experience, strategic acumen, and a passion for patient well-being. Working seamlessly together, the team navigates the intricate landscape of dentistry, ensuring that United Dental Partners stands as a beacon of quality and accessibility in the communities we serve.
Chief Executive Officer, Keith Kendrick
Keith Kendrick is passionate about building and empowering great teams, harnessing emerging technologies, growing customer satisfaction, and telling compelling stories to accelerate growth in small and large companies.
Keith has been CEO of United Dental Partners and a member of the Board since September 2021 after serving the company as the Chief Marketing Officer for about a year. Since assuming the CEO position, he has recruited and led a new management team and built a collaborative and accountable culture to rebuild the company from the COVID-19 pandemic. Keith also serves on the Board of the ADSO and the Government Affairs subcommittee.
Previously, he has served in numerous senior roles, including chief marketing, chief digital, chief strategist, CEO, and president of public and privately held companies in the health and wellness, financial services, and integrated payments markets for over 30 years. He has successfully applied his strategic and leadership skills at MasterCard Worldwide, AT&T, JP Morgan Chase, EFD | eFunds, and Xplor Technologies.
Keith holds an MBA in marketing and finance from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. He is a recipient of the Corning World Travel Fellowship and was appointed to the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control in the Federal Government by President Reagan. While at MasterCard Worldwide, the American Banker named him one of the “Top 40 Bankers under 40” in the United States.
Chief Financial Officer, Scott Hornbuckle
Scott brings 15 years of experience in the Dental Services Organization (DSO) space to UDP. He first joined Benevis Corporation as the Controller in 2007 and earned the CFO spot in 2014. During that time, Scott developed his expertise in various assignments, including business strategy, accounting, treasury, purchasing, and finance. He has demonstrated his ability to work collaboratively with operations and other departmental stakeholders to achieve critical enterprise objectives.
Scott graduated Magna Cum Laude from Morehouse College and received a Master of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Arizona. Scott started his professional career at Arthur Andersen, progressing to the role of Audit Manager before opting to explore alternate opportunities that ultimately lead him into the dental industry.
Chief Operating & Clinical Officer, Dr. Emily Vanney
Dr. Emily Vanney graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry in 2012. She gained clinical and leadership experience working in a variety of practice settings prior to joining United Dental Partners in 2016.
She takes pride in fostering a culture that prioritizes patient health and satisfaction. Dr. Vanney focuses on collaboration across functional areas, empowering teams to think creatively and share openly to solve problems and reduce organizational friction. Her clinical experience and operational knowledge help her coach and develop Office Teams, including Doctors, so they understand relevant KPIs and have incentives that are designed to support the achievement of goals, while always putting patients first.
Dr. Vanney continues to practice dentistry every Monday and is dedicated to providing excellent care to patients of all ages. She speaks Spanish and loves being able to communicate directly with her Spanish-speaking patients. Outside of the office, she and her husband love to cook, read, play tennis, and bike around Chicago.
Chief Marketing & Chief Strategy Officer, Ashley Gibson
Ashley is a seasoned executive with a distinguished record in brand building, demand generation, and the cultivation of team culture and efficacy. With over 16 years of experience, she has served as an executive business partner in both marketing agencies and global brands, demonstrating a keen understanding of the intricacies of diverse markets. As a data-driven leader, Ashley recognizes the paramount role of insights in achieving results. She leverages data to comprehend and anticipate consumer behavior, consistently seeking clues to inform and enhance strategies.
In her prior role, Ashley played a pivotal leadership function in a global fintech company, enabling a global marketing team and the establishment of brand positioning, operational continuity, and product differentiation. Currently heading multiple competencies, including Marketing, Call Center, and Recruiting at United Dental Partners, Ashley is also a Curriculum Committee Member for the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO) and holds a position on the Customer Advisory Board for NexHealth.
Beyond her professional pursuits, Ashley, a lifelong athlete, finds joy in mountain trail running and spending quality time outdoors with her husband and friends.
