To address the climate crisis, we must accelerate the deployment of technologies that decarbonize our economy. Our purpose is to support the commercialization of green technologies by building the best teams possible for game-changing startups.

Our Story

For more than ten years, we’ve built teams for leaders advancing technologies to decarbonize our economy. Berkner Group was founded by Chris Berkner, a former venture capitalist and start-up CEO, to be the high-caliber search firm he needed when hiring for his company. Working with three different search firms and handling hiring independently, Berkner experienced firsthand the challenges of effectively building the best team.

In 2009, when Berkner was managing director at One Earth Capital, the VC engaged a search firm to find a new CEO for one of their portfolio companies. When the firm failed to produce any promising candidates, The firm asked Berkner to step in as interim CEO to lead a 20-person startup innovating at the intersection of water, energy, and agriculture. He engaged various search firms to help grow the team, but again, they needed help finding the best candidates. Berkner spent time vetting candidates himself, which wasted precious time and money on an inefficient process that ultimately delayed essential hiring decisions.

He needed a firm that could carry out a search as thoroughly as he would if he had the time. A firm that could seamlessly partner with clients to genuinely understand each hire's priorities, requirements, company values, and growth plans. So, in 2013, Berkner set out to create such a firm.

Tapping into his network from the startup world, Berkner began recruiting for companies in the green tech space while developing a highly consultative, research-backed methodology for executive and technical search. Each search starts with a “mind-melding” session to collaborate with clients on a scorecard for the role that outlines and ranks the necessary and nuanced qualifications. Clients participate in the process from priority setting to decision making. From there, we identify “perfect-match” candidates through selective profiling and rigorous interviews that go beyond skillsets to consider emotional intelligence and character.

We are a 50-person team of search consultants and researchers who continually improve our processes to ensure clients get the best results and most value. We believe that by contributing to our clients’ successes in deploying transformative solutions, we are doing our part to address the climate crisis.

“My goal was to enable climate tech innovators to build the best teams to drive change. To achieve my vision, I broke away from traditional recruiting models to create a new approach tailored to startups that delivers exceptional talent. We build hand-picked teams with the energy, expertise, and shared purpose to develop and commercialize breakthrough climate tech innovation.”

- Chris Berkner, Founder and President

“Because I can depend on our research team to bring me a large pool of qualified candidates, I have the space to play a truly consultative role with our clients. Our culture is far from the transactional, high-pressure environment I’ve experienced at other firms. Berkner Group’s model brings out the best in my work and ensures we deliver the highest value to our clients.”

- Landon Preston, Sr Executive Search Consultant

Our Values

  • We hold ourselves accountable for our actions and are reliable, responsive and respectful in all of our interactions with clients, candidates, and colleagues. We consider ourselves trusted advisors to our clients and never recruit from them.

  • Our clients trust us to help them create winning teams. We honor that trust by taking care to

    truly understand each client’s immediate hiring needs along with their vision for future growth. In addition to finding candidates with the right qualifications, we find people of character who will contribute meaningfully, align with our client’s mission and culture, and have lasting success.

  • No matter how difficult the search is, we embrace the challenge and go the extra mile to ensure success. We dig deeper to compile larger pools of “bullseye” candidates, expand our methods to attract and engage top candidates, and do additional research to inform compensation and search parameters.

  • We continuously fine-tune our search methodology to achieve exceptional outcomes for our clients. Our team regularly adopts new tools and processes to enhance our efficiency and effectiveness, including leveraging new developments in AI without sacrificing the human touch.

  • Climate tech startups need to recruit the most ambitious, diligent, capable and aligned talent to drive large-scale adoption of transformative technologies. We intentionally partner with these innovative companites to enable the crucial work of decarbonizing the economy.

  • We strive to promote diversity and create an inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels respected, valued, and supported. We help our clients realize their DEI goals by tailoring our recruitment strategy appropriately.