Kendrick O. Faison: Redefining Leadership and Legacy

Kendrick O. Faison didn’t set out to change the game. He just kept showing up—curious, persistent, and committed to giving more than he took.

“I’m one of very few African-American CEOs—not just in the U.S., but in the world,” Kendrick shared in his Pathfinders interview. “But I had to get past being Black. I just had to learn to be a good CEO.”

That mindset has guided Kendrick from a career in intelligence and emergency management to becoming the founder and CEO of Spatial GIS, a geospatial services company with a clear mission: to innovate, to educate, and to serve.

GIS—Geographic Information Systems—is often misunderstood. But Kendrick explains it with grounded simplicity:

“We have the ability to take stagnant data and tell stories… to provide strong data decisions for our decision makers. It changes lives—in redistricting, how kids get to school, and even how we vote.”

Kendrick’s story isn’t one of linear ascent. He left a six-figure government job just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “I sat right here in this chair for two years and built this thing out,” he recalled. “There was no blueprint. I stayed on what I call YouTube University and figured it out.”

That raw tenacity—paired with a deep well of humility—defines Kendrick’s leadership. Raised in rural North Carolina by his grandmother, he traces his values to her fourth-grade education and boundless wisdom.

“She would always say, treat others as you want to be treated,” Kendrick said. “All I’m doing is regurgitating the household I was raised in.”

As his company grew, so did his vision. He saw GIS not as a siloed technical tool but as a movement with the power to unify disciplines and communities. “Data has no name, no color, no socioeconomic status,” he said. “But we have the power to make change in the community.”

To expand that power, Kendrick launched a multidisciplinary internship at his alma mater, Fayetteville State University, uniting students in GIS, business, and computer science.

“They walk out with Salesforce admin, AWS architect, and 3D rendering certifications,” he said. “Most of them are women in STEM. It’s a labor of love.”

That love shows up in how he mentors young professionals, leads his team, and even responds to hardship. “It’s a very hard thing,” he admitted of running a company. “But I believe that my bank at the end of all of this is what I call legacy. And all I’m doing is just putting coins and bills into my ‘life currency’ bank.”

When asked about self-doubt, Kendrick didn’t hesitate: “You’re your biggest critic. And if you can’t be your own cheerleader, then you’re defeated.” He practices what he calls “mind days”—time to check in, reflect, and recalibrate. “We can’t put a timer on success,” he said.

“Sometimes, you’re planting seeds to trees for shade you’ll never sit under.”

And yet, thanks to Kendrick’s work, many will sit under that shade. From young professionals entering the GIS field to communities transformed by smarter, more human-centered data solutions, Kendrick’s legacy is already taking root.