For Brad Zelinger, founder and CEO of Stride Autism Centers, the mission to provide the best possible support for children with autism and their families is deeply personal.
“Stride’s origin story really goes back to my childhood and my family’s struggles to best support my sister, who has a severe autism-related disorder called Rett syndrome,” Zelinger told Autism Business News. “That upbringing and the culture of philanthropy towards individuals with special needs was always a core part of my identity.”
Merging his business background with his passion for supporting individuals like his sister and their families, Zelinger launched Stride’s first location in October 2020 during “the depths of COVID,” he said.
Since then, the self-funded company has grown rapidly and organically, expanding to 20 locations across the Midwest.
Stride, which serves about 250 full-time equivalent clients daily, focuses exclusively on center-based applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy for preschool children with autism, providing services in rural communities across Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
This footprint is a choice that aligns with Stride’s commitment to supporting underserved populations.
While the clinic does offer some resources for related therapies, such as OT (occupational therapy) and speech, those are only provided through community partnerships, Zelinger said. He added that Stride’s services are paid for by about 50/50 Medicaid and commercial insurance.
“I think, philosophically, we view center-based support as being superior to other settings,” he said. “That’s our focus now. I wouldn’t rule anything out in the future, but we’re really focused on expanding our existing model and approach.”
Zelinger opted to not disclose any specifics about Stride’s revenue, but alluded to the company’s success, stating that the organization has opened seven locations in the last 12 months alone, including expanding into a new state, without any outside investment.
Stride currently employs about 350 full-time team members across the organization and relies on a tiered supervisory model, with registered behavior technicians (RBTs) reporting to board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) who oversee the client cases.
Within that, Stride has promotion pads for both RBTs and BCBAs, Zelinger said, with successive increases in their level of leadership and experience. The clinic also possesses additional layers of clinical supervision at the regional level to promote best practices and outcomes in each region, he said.
However, recruitment and retention, especially in the rural areas Stride serves, remains the company’s No. 1 challenge, Zelinger told ABN.
“We sort of mitigate that a few ways,” he said. “I think one is just building a larger, more sophisticated recruitment engine, … and then I think just really having an unwavering commitment to our mission-driven approach.”
Stride is “aspiring to be the No. 1 employer of choice” in all of its markets, according to Zelinger.
“That’s really, I think, how we mitigate that issue,” he added.
Moving forward, Stride is focused on deepening its presence in existing markets rather than expanding into new territories, Zelinger explained.
“We already have a strong brand and reputation and leadership, so that’s kind of our focus now,” he said.
Zelinger mentioned that he is also excited about the infrastructure additions underway at Stride.
“We’re a lean, very entrepreneurial, fast-growing company, but there are a couple things we’re working on in terms of building infrastructure,” he said.
The company is currently in the late stages of recruiting a chief operating officer, a role Zelinger believes will be “game-changing” for the leadership team. Additionally, Stride is working on implementing business intelligence tools to provide leaders with better visibility and access into operational and outcomes data.
Zooming out, Zelinger is mindful of some of the macro forces shaping the autism services space today.
He noted that while the labor market is showing signs of improvement, competition for talent within the ABA field remains fierce. He also mentioned that declining interest rates could provide relief to center-based programs like Stride, as well as prompt additional M&A activity in the space, leading to market consolidation.
In the next five years, Zelinger envisions Stride surpassing 1,000 team members and clients respectively, while demonstrating real evidence of superior clinical outcomes in a tangible manner, he said.
“I really have found Stride to be the Holy Grail. … For me it’s like you’re doing well by doing good,” he told ABN.
