Rahsaan Bernard is a strategic thought leader with a 20+ year executive career overseeing multidisciplinary, cross-functional teams and managing operating budgets of over $50 million and capital budgets exceeding $200 million. He currently serves as the president and CEO of Building Bridges Across the River, the largest social service, multi-sector, nonprofit collaboration in the country, which includes 14 nonprofits delivering over $30M of human services annually to a community of 170,000 residents. In this role, he is responsible for leading and managing the nationally-recognized 16.5-acre, 203,000 sq. ft. Townhall, Health, Education, Arts, and Recreation Campus (THEARC), the Skyland Workforce Center, seven urban farms and the first elevated non-vehicular park in the nation’s capital, the 11th Street Bridge Park. His and his team’s work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Business Journal and countless local and national television segments.
Rahsaan also founded and serves as the Chairman for Beyond Excellence, a firm specializing in healthcare management and consulting. He successfully launched and scaled the business from its inception to a profitable venture, building a talented and diverse executive leadership team and workforce while fostering a positive and inclusive work culture. Over the firm's impressive 18-year history, Rahsaan developed the infrastructure and formalized all business functions that enabled exponential revenue growth. Under Rahsaan's leadership, Beyond Excellence secured strategic certifications with the SBA, Maryland Department of Transportation, and the National Minority Supplier Development Council leading to business expansion.
As an insightful business executive and collaborative visionary, Rahsaan is an often sought-after keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist providing industry perspective, offering unique guidance and inspiring innovation. His nationally recognized reputation of strategic, transformative and results-driven leadership has led to various honors, including the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100, Leadership Greater Washington's Community Partner of the Year and the District Building Industry Association's Community Impact Partner of the Year.
He currently holds leadership roles on the Board of Trustees of Feeding America, the Federal City Council, the Capital Area Food Bank and the Catalogue for Philanthropy, and he serves as a Mayoral appointee to the DC Tax Revision Commission. He is also a member of Leadership Greater Washington, the Young President’s Organization and the Men of St. John's College High School.
Rahsaan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, a Certificate from the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, a Master in Business Administration from Bowie State University and a Master in Professional Studies in Real Estate from Georgetown University. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three children.
