Steele Foundation
The Steele Foundation, founded in 1989, and based out of San Francisco, California, has offices on five continents with over 400 clients ranging from multinational corporations to non-profit organizations. They have six core business groups comprised of Business Investigations, Executive Security, Crisis Management, Behavioral Sciences, Information Security, Crisis and Environmental Services. Steele is the world's fifth largest security company, [1] and draws experience from FBI, Secret Service and Pentagon Intelligence.
Steele was the company contracted by the Haitian government to protect Jean-Bertrand Aristide from 1998 to his forced exodus in the spring of 2004. [2][3]
Steele in Iraq
"More than $100 billion has been allocated to fund reconstruction projects throughout Iraq. This vibrant marketplace is now host to hundreds of multinational and local companies who are combating the security threats..." says their website. Among the services they offer in Iraq are: security consulting, personal and convoy protection, risk assessments, business intelligence, force protection, and kidnapping mitigation. By the spring of 2004, Steele's numbers in Iraq had risen from 50 to 500. [4]
Director of marketing for Steele, Tom Stallings, notes that salaries vary according to nationality. Though he will not reveal exact numbers, he does admit that Iraqis are paid substantially less than foreign hires. [5] 75% of their personnel in Iraq is local [6].
Behavioral Sciences
For the workplace environment, Steele offers behavioral science services. The experience gained by Steele's staff at the FBI and Secret Service have forged the techniques of Forensic Behavioral Analysis to identify everything from ransom notes to potential employee eruptions. The Indirect Profiling System of the FBI has been refined by Steele to reach into problems beyond law enforcement. Steele has created the Workplace Strategy Group to offer immediate response to developing situations or violent incidents occurring in the workplace.
CPMC strike
The Steele Foundation was hired as a goon squad by the California Pacific Medical Center during a 2005 strike.
"Since the strike began 31 days ago, Steele Foundation guards have shoved, spit on, sexually harassed, and threatened Nursing Assistants, Licensed Vocational Nurses and other hospital caregivers. Yesterday morning [October 13th] over 70 Steele personnel attacked a largely female group of caregivers protesting peacefully at the hospital's Pacific campus." the SEIU press release reported. [7]
Key People
Management
- Kenneth Kurtz: chairman and chief executive officer
- Greg Pearson: chief operating officer
- Todd Lane: chief financial officer
- Dennis P. Haist: general counsel
- Jorge Septien: managing director Latin America
- John W.A. Didden: managing director Middle East
- Pawanjit Ahlumalia: managing director Central Asia
- Philip J. Curlewis: managing director Asia
- Paul Jackson: director Europe/ Africa
- David Johnson: director of special projects and training
- David Patterson: director Consulting Services
- Steve Tiddy: senior management Europe/ Africa
Behavioral Sciences
- Richard L. Ault, Jr.
- Robert R. Hazel Wood
- Kenneth P. Baker
- Peter A. Smerick
- Thomas Strentz
- Richard G. Harrison
- Lewis C. Shealy, Jr.
- Bernardo Matias Perez
- Bertram S. Brown
Contact
Steele Foundation
388 Market Street 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.781.4300
northamerica@wwsteele.com
