Whenever someone lands their dream job, it’s usually thanks to determination and intentionality, and Berman is no exception. Prior to joining Geared for Green in 2020, he co-founded a Miami environmental firm and earned a master’s degree in sustainable business from the Patti and Allan Herbert Business School.
Berman, 29, was born and raised in suburban Detroit in a house that backed up to a protected nature preserve wetland. The son of an entrepreneurial father who built an automotive parts business, and a hairdresser mom enamored with wildlife and the environment, in 2013 Berman enrolled in the University of Miami as an international relations major.
“When I first got to UM, I was unsure of where I wanted to go in terms of a career path,” Berman said. Following his sophomore year, many of Berman’s classmates made plans to study abroad for a semester after they became juniors. Berman followed their lead by reaching out to the National Outdoor Leadership School in Nelson, New Zealand.
“You essentially get to have an immersive outdoor education experience,” Berman said of a sojourn that included one month of survivalist backpacking through New Zealand mountain ranges, along with a month of kayaking and then three weeks of canoeing through the country’s pristine waterways.
“Having a chance to sync with the Earth's rhythms and wake up with the sun was awesome,” Berman said of his semester in New Zealand, which included nine other U.S. students and three instructors. “It for sure strengthened my sense of purpose, in terms of trying to be a steward of the environment.”
Returning to the University of Miami with unparalleled outdoorsman skills, and 12 additional credits, Berman switched his major to economics and environmental policy. Before earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2017, Berman created a recycling program that enabled his father’s Michigan corporation to avoid sending 50 tons of waste to a landfill, saving the company $15,000 annually.
With this accomplishment on his resume and a freshly minted University of Miami degree, Berman set his sights on the world of environmental consulting. He joined forces with another new University of Miami graduate, Lorenzo Martino, and they launched ICGreen LLC.
“We were 22 years old, thinking we could walk into somebody’s business and advise them on environmental friendliness,” Berman recalled. “Our office was out of our apartment in Brickell, we had a P.O. box and that was about it.”
Berman and Martino ran ICGreen LLC for about a year and a half, primarily helping restaurants save money with energy efficiency, sustainable food service products, and proper waste management. But with revenues chronically falling short of expenses, Berman shut down ICGreen and enrolled in Miami Herbert’s Master of Science in Sustainable Business.
“My grad experience was more targeted toward business,” Berman said of a year spent at Miami Herbert, “and I really enjoyed the economics of sustainability class.” Berman was particularly impressed with Professor of Economics David Kelly, program director of the Master of Science in Sustainable Business program. Berman also praised Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Esteban Petruzzello, Professor Daniel Hicks, and Associate Professor Christopher Parmeter.
After getting his master’s degree in sustainable business in 2020, he interviewed with Geared for Green founder and CEO Daniel Schrager. The two environmentally conscious men clicked, and Berman got a job with Geared for Green, a for-profit firm that’s been in existence for 10 years.
As director of operations, “there’s a lot of planning and logistics and research that goes into what I do,” said Berman, who recently did an educational Zoom for University of Miami students aligned with UM’s Green Alumni Series. “I try to make it seamless for clients and make sure our programs are being implemented to create as much value as possible. That starts with education. How you communicate your sustainability story is critical for a program’s success.
“Our bread and butter is working with businesses, events, communities, and schools,” Berman said. “We come in and do a waste audit to get a sense of what an organization’s operations are. From there, we also look at their purchasing for internal operations, as well as what they’re selling. Then, we start taking different materials out of their dumpster, as part of a crawl-walk-run approach to zero waste,” Berman said of Geared for Green, which also manufactures and sells products made from recycled material. “One of our main goals is always for our clients to reduce their operating costs.”
“Some days are a grind, but seeing waste diverted from landfills and the environment makes it all worth it,” Berman noted proudly. “This is right where I want to be. I’m trying to limit the amount of plastic that enters our oceans by changing the way we view waste.”
