Founder & Chairperson – STREETS International
Neal Bermas is a global businessperson, hospitality and management consultant, and philanthropist. He is the founder and board chairperson for the social enterprise, Streets International in Hoi An. STREETS provides hospitality training and apprenticing programs to underprivileged youth.
He began his career with Ernst & Young in the US as national director of healthcare consulting services. He subsequently held leadership roles at Forbes Vantage Group, Bogner (GMBH) of America, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
His consultancy included work with The Walt Disney Company, Sheraton, Le Méridien Hotels and Vietcombank. He also held faculty positions at NYU, the University of Southern California, the Culinary Institute of America and the Institute of Culinary Education. Neal was awarded a membership to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2014. In 2017, he received a Leadership Award from Consular Affairs of the US Department of State. In 2018, Neal was honored to be a CNN Hero of the Year.
He has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Financial Times (London), National Geographic, Gourmet Live, AsiaLife, Thanh Nien News, Cong An and Vietnam News (Vietnam), The Examiner (Australia), and Tiger Tales (Singapore).
Neal earned his Ph.D. from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Boston. He currently serves on its Board of Advisors.
He is an avid practitioner of Iyengar Yoga, was a national semi-finalist in the US Cutting Horse Competition (with cowboy trophy belt buckles to prove it!) and from time-to-time, in Saigon, can be seen sitting in and playing his conga set with the ‘Living Cuba’ Latin dance band.
Neal envisions being a member of the Business Executive Network as a great collaborative opportunity to continue his lifelong philosophy of learning while sharing with others lessons that he’s already passed the test on.
