Anne Berner
| Anne Berner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of Transport and Communications | |
|
Assumed office 29 May 2015 |
|
| Prime Minister | Juha Sipilä |
| Preceded by |
Paula Risikko (Transport) Krista Kiuru (Communications) |
| Member of Finnish Parliament for Uusimaa |
|
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Assumed office 20 April 2015 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 January 1964 Helsinki, Finland |
| Nationality |
Swiss Finnish |
| Political party | Centre Party |
| Spouse(s) | Pekka Karkkolainen |
| Children | 3 sons |
| Residence | Espoo |
| Alma mater | Hanken School of Economics |
| Website | http://www.anneberner.fi |
Anne-Catherine Berner (born 16 January 1964) is a Swiss-Finnish business executive, board professional and the current Minister of Transport and Communications of Finland. She’s the chair and main owner of Vallila Interior, a family owned interior design company. Berner was elected in 2012 as the chair and leader of the New Children's Hospital 2017, a private funded effort to build a new hospital for children in Helsinki.
Berner was born in Helsinki to a Swiss, four children family, as the oldest sibling. She spent her childhood in Helsinki and attended a German school for 12 years. Berner’s background is modest, living in a small apartment and sharing the same room between four children, Berner and her three younger brothers. She once dreamed of becoming a medical professional and studied the field for a short time in a Swiss university. However, after her mother became seriously ill, she returned to her family in Finland. Berner graduated with a M.Sc. from Hanken School of Economics in 1986, and took the lead of their family company in 1989.
In 1989 Berner became the managing director of Vallila Interior, succeeding her father Rudolf Berner. She became chair of the company in 2012. During her time as CEO, Vallila grew in size from about 10 people to more than 140 employees in 2014.
In addition to her family-based business, Berner has done a long career as a board professional on several publicly listed Finnish and international companies.
Berner's organizational career include chairing the Finnish Family Firms Association 2005-2008, the Association for Finnish Work as chairman between 2010-2013 and 2013-2015, and the European Family Businesses 2011-2015 as member of the board.
Berner has also participated as a venture capitalist on Finland's and Sweden's versions of the television show Dragons' Den.
In 2006, Berner received the Prix Veuve Clicquot, as the Finnish business woman of the year. The Finnish Businessmen's Association named her in 2009 as the business man of the year. In 2014, Berner was given the order of Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland by the President of the Republic.
Before entering politics, Berner was best known as the public face and leader of a charity project to build a new children's hospital in Helsinki. The new children's hospital is scheduled for completion in 2017, in time to commemorate the centenary of Finnish independence. Berner serves on the hospital's support association, support foundation as chair from 2012 to present.
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