Anne Berner

Berner was born in Helsinki to a Swiss family. She was the first of four children. She spent her childhood in Helsinki and attended a German school for twelve years. Berner's background was modest, living in a small apartment and sharing the same room with her three brothers. Berner had an interest in medicine at a young age when she became acquainted with the pathological institute as a summer worker. She got her apprenticeship from Zurich Medical University but returned to Finland after her mother became ill. Obligations to take care of the mother first and later to the family company, made Berner settle in Finland.

She completed a Master of Science in Economics at the Hanken School of Economics.

The New Children's Hospital in Helsinki

Before entering politics, Berner was best known as the public face and leader of a charity project to build a new children's hospital in Helsinki. The new children's hospital was formally scheduled for completion in 2017, in time to commemorate the centenary of Finnish independence. Berner serves on the hospital's support association, support foundation as chair from 2012 to present.

Berner created a funding organization in 2013, and construction of the hospital began in 2014. The hospital opened in 2018.

In 1986, Berner first received a fixed-term work permit to work at her family company, Vallila Silkkitehdas Osakeyhtiö. She was the ninth employee of the company, whose turnover at that time was FIM 22 million. Berner has stated that, at the beginning of her family business career, she traveled 70,000 kilometers a year to sell fabrics to architects.

In 1989 she became the managing director of Vallila Interior, succeeding her father Rudolf Berner. She became chair of the company in 2012. During her time as CEO, Vallila grew in size from about 10 people to more than 140 employees in 2014.

Vallila Interior CEO

In 1986, Berner started a new project design business through Vallila Interior Contracting Oy and three years later, in 1989, she became CEO of the company at the age of 25. The parent company was renamed Vallila Interior and, under Berner's leadership, the company was given contracts for public buildings. The company carried also out decorations for cruisers, including the curtains of all cabins of the Oasis cruise ship built at STX's Turku shipyard. In 2008, Berner was responsible for furnishing the three SOK-owned hotels in St. Petersburg. In Russia, Vallila Interior has implemented hotel and restaurant projects since 1992.

In the early 2000s, Vallila's subsidiaries, Keha Oy, Decohouse Oy and Vallila Interior Contracting Oy, merged under the name of Vallila Interior. Berner re-launched Vallila's textile design. Vallila launched its own textile collection in 2007, and during the 2010s, the Vallila brand became a well-known home textile brand in Finland.

Berner was elected into the Finnish Parliament for Uusimaa in 2015 as a nonpartisan candidate for the Centre Party of Finland.

She was then appointed to the Sipilä's government, as the Minister of Transport and Communications in May 2015. Upon appointment to the government, she took the Centre Party membership. Berner's duties also included acting as the minister for Nordic Cooperation and the minister for Åland Island affairs.

Berner's political views has been described as influenced by classical liberalism, with a strong belief in the value of entrepreneurship and responsible ownership. Berner stated that she would only serve for four years in public office—one Finnish parliament election cycle.

Board seat in Luxembourg

In August 2015, YLE reported that Berner would have acted as a member of a Luxembourg tax haven company's board of directors. The Luxemburg-based investment fund Triton is the current owner of Swedish flooring manufacturer Kährs. Berner has told that she was serving on the board of Hartwall Capital in 2012, when Upoflor was merged with the Swedish company Kährs. Berner continued after the merger on the board of Kährs Ltd. Berner has had no ownership in neither company, and has paid payroll taxes on any compensations in Finland. Berner resigned from the position upon election to the parliament.

Vallila Interior

According to Finnwatch Minister Berner owned company Vallila Interior’s Indian subcontractor employees report illegally low wages and forced overtime work. Berner owns ca 30% of Vallila Collection. Before being minister in 2015, she owned more than 60% of the firm, but subsequently handed over about half to her sons.