Steven Ferrell

Steven Ferrell is the current Vice President of Human Resources at Open Book Extracts. Prior to this, they served as the Senior HR Director at Trulieve from November 2017 to November 2021.

Ferrell was instrumental in creating and leading the HR department within Trulieve, a growing startup medical cannabis company. In just four years, they helped the company grow from 200 employees to become the largest vertically integrated cannabis corporation in the United States, with a 5000% increase in headcount.

As Sr. HR Director, Ferrell supported a department of 40+ HR employees, including shared services of Benefits, Employee Relations, Learning & Development and Talent Acquisition. Steven also fostered and led HR retention strategies in a high-growth manufacturing and retail space; leveraged employee satisfaction data to craft employer of choice initiatives; and served as Executive Sponsor of the DEI committee. In addition, Ferrell provided well-rounded support for the CEO and C-suite executive team, including senior leadership talent acquisition, compensation strategy, organizational design, performance management.

Ferrell also served as compensation committee member within the Board of Directors. Steven successfully managed oversight of a 4 million dollar department budget; negotiated contracts with third party vendors; and affected year-for-year improved employee health benefits coverage and other total rewards. Additionally, they onboarded the company’s first HRIS and created an employee call center infrastructure.

Lastly, Ferrell skillfully navigated varying multi-state legal compliance regulations regarding medical cannabis employment requirements; M&A integration of newly acquired companies.

Steven Ferrell has a degree in Human Resources Management from Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature from North Carolina State University.

Some of their coworkers include Oscar Hackett - President & CFO, Jake Puckett - Director, Project Management, and Andrea Baillo - VP, Product Innovation & Research. A direct report to Steven Ferrell is and Elizabeth Garver - HR Manager. Their manager is Dave Neundorfer, CEO.