Bernie spent his professional life on three continents: as a financial analyst with a venture capital fund in South America, and as a senior executive for a water treatment company in charge of international business development between North America and Europe.

Early in his career he helped fund and grow small businesses in various countries and industries in South America in a financial as well as a consulting function, working for ADELA Investment Company out of Lima, Peru. He also worked with the Swiss Foreign Aid agency and with US AID on specific development projects in Peru and Haiti.

Later at BioLab Inc., a water treatment consumer products company based in Atlanta, Georgia, Bernie was VP for International Business Development. In that role he helped develop and implement business strategies and acquisition projects with the company’s subsidiaries in the US, in Canada, Germany, France, Spain, England and South Africa.

Bernie then turned his interest to encouraging and helping organizations adopt sustainable business practices. He pursues this objective as the executive director of the Greenhouse Accelerator, helping early-stage green startups create sustainable jobs, supporting sustainability initiatives within existing companies and educating students from elementary schools to MBA classes on sustainability.

Bernie grew up in Switzerland and earned a PhD in economics at the University of Basel; he is an ISSP-certified sustainability professional.