Concurrent to her roles in institutional and private investments, Berndt has built collaborative bridges between the private and non-profit sectors. Berndt founded the innovative, award-winning CARES program in collaboration with the University of Texas Steve Hicks School of Social Work, for example. Established in 2017, the CARES team leverages the unique skills and training of graduates and graduate students from the School of Social Work. Placing social workers in a commercial enterprise particularly related to housing has proven to foster productive and personalized communication, especially in times of crisis. CARES team members have been on the front lines of Amherst’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting residents experiencing financial hardship to federal and local rental assistance programs. In 2021 and 2022, 2,300 residents received CARES case management services.

Berndt is a board member and co-founder of Amherst’s 501-C3 non-profit, CapCityKids, which helps homeless and economically disadvantaged children succeed in school. Created after Katrina to aid the influx of storm refugees into Austin, the program now extends to over 38 cities, and each new expansion is tailored to the specific needs of the homeless in their respective communities. Nearly every off-site event for Amherst includes a CapCityKids component, a public service woven into the firm’s very fabric.

Berndt currently serves on the UT Presidential Development Board, the Advisory Council for the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas, Austin, and was the Council’s chairperson for six years. During this time, Berndt helped to raise endowments to fund scholarships for social workers and help fund the autism center to focus on diagnosing autism in the Latino community.

Berndt’s passion for philanthropic investment also extends to the medical world. She is presently on the Visiting Committee for Discovery Science at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is a co-founder in ONCOPEP and founding investor in several companies involved in the development of therapies for targeting cancer and other chronic diseases. She was integral in the development of The Dobson Family Fund for Rapid Drug Delivery and organizing the Big Data Model Fest that pushed for private market data analysis tools for computational biology and cancer research.

Berndt is a native Houstonian and a former competitive junior tennis player. She credits the sport for introducing her to a lifetime of friendships and diverse perspectives.