joslyn berndt

An unapologetic capitalist, Berndt believes markets are among the most powerful engines of economic and social progress and that private capital, applied thoughtfully, can address gaps that institutions alone cannot close. That conviction has shaped much of her work outside traditional investing. She co-founded CapCityKids to support children experiencing homelessness and economic hardship in Central Texas; programs developed through that work ultimately expanded into 38 cities nationwide. She has served for many years on the University of Texas Presidential Development Board and the Advisory Council of The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. She also co-founded CARES (Community Advocacy, Resources, and Engagement Services), bringing trained social workers into a private real estate operating platform to assist residents facing housing instability, financial hardship, and other crises. In healthcare, she co-founded ONCOPEP and serves on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Visiting Committee for Discovery Science, supporting the development of new therapies for cancer and chronic disease.

Berndt’s perspective was shaped long before the boardroom. She spent her earliest years in Houston’s historic Second Ward and grew up as a competitive tennis player, becoming a nationally ranked junior before ultimately trading aspirations of a tennis career for finance. The discipline, competitiveness, and resilience of the sport followed her into a career spanning Wall Street, private enterprise, philanthropy, and community development. Across those worlds, her philosophy has remained consistent: capital carries both opportunity and responsibility. Her work has increasingly focused on bringing together investors, businesses, universities, scientists, and social-service professionals to solve problems that rarely fit neatly within a single institution using the discipline of markets while preserving the human purpose they are ultimately meant to serve.