Ms. Berkana is the Academic Dean and Chief Executive Officer of the Berkana Institute of Massage Therapy. She served as a Board Director for the United States National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and was the Board Liaison for the NCBTMB Ethics and Standards Committee. Ms. Berkana is the original creator of the Berkana Institute’s Style of Bodywork and designed the 682-hour comprehensive curriculum. She is the Director for all Berkana Institute’s operational, student and faculty affairs. 

In 2005 she founded the Costa Rica School of Massage Therapy (CRSMT) and was the Acting Director, Academic Dean, and Senior Bodywork Instructor for the “Jungle Massage School” from its inception through the fall of 2011. Jill Kristin Berkana is a Licensed and Board-Certified Massage Therapist who enjoyed a massage therapy practice for three decades, provided thousands of massage therapy treatments to a dedicated clientele. She developed and specialized her own Integrative work including normalization of soft tissue techniques, myo-fascial, trigger point therapy and NMT. 

Ms. Berkana is a U.S. National Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork Approved Continuing Education Provider. Her extensive and evolving career path in the massage therapy profession has led to the development and oversight of massage therapy programs for high end spas and resorts, health clubs, chiropractic offices and educational ventures. Early in her career, she created and launched a destination spa program for a resort in the jungles of Belize where she provided massage, spa treatments, strength training, nutritional counseling, and guided tours. There she started to explore the magic and wonder of plant medicine. She provides expert consultation for resorts and spas internationally. Over the years, she has worked with a full spectrum of clients including infants, adolescents, athletes, cancer thrivers, elderly clients, and familiar celebrities.  

Ms Berkana is a passionate advocate and ambassador for the massage therapy profession, and is excited about the future of this healing art. In addition to enjoying long-term success in the massage therapy profession, Ms. Berkana also has extensive experience as an international entrepreneur and business professional.  Ms. Berkana is the originator of the creative bodywork approach known as Mindful Expressionism®. She has a moderate case of acquired savant syndrome from a car accident she was in over 25 years ago where she sustained a traumatic brain injury. This condition completely informs her way of operating in the world. Her iron fist in a velvet glove teaching style has been described as "loving and aggressive, a no-holds-barred approach which is simultaneously inspirational and intimidating, but will level you up, FAST".  She prides herself on retaining her autonomy at all costs as a leader of the profession and tells the truth, even when it's messy. Ms Berkana is a passionate advocate and ambassador for the massage therapy profession, nutrition, movement practices, and the use of plants as medicine. She has two radio shows " radical self-care" and "renegade entrepreneurship" which air out of Seattle on Cafe Racer Radio.

She is the proud mentor of hundreds of her graduates and is dedicated to their success long after graduation from the program. She currently resides in her home on the coast of Puget sound south of Seattle and directs her team of vetted and trained instructors, administrators and directors from her home office with her two dogs and cats. She frequently travels to Longmont to support on the ground operations and teach and inspire her students at the Berkana Institute of Massage Therapy. She is a certified expert witness for cases of misconduct in the massage therapy and bodywork profession and is a published author.