Erik Brinkman

Erik Brinkman is a Treeplanter turned Chief Executive Officer of Brinkman Group. He has planted over 1.5 million trees by hand and continues to work with his family firm on sustainability mission-critical projects and initiatives in day-to-day operations. He enjoys woodworking, stained glass, and hunting—for beach glass with his 3-year-old.

As a young man, Erik dropped out of university and apprenticed with an indigenous shaman in the Amazon for a year, where he witnessed the crucible of humanity's impact on the earth. He later went back to school, studied creative solutions through the arts, and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours. Erik is an artist, illustrator, music producer, and tree lover who settles Syrian families in Canada with a private refugee sponsorship group that he co-founded and Chairs. 

Erik recently graduated with an Executive Master's in Business Administration as Valedictorian of the SFU Beedie School of Business. Inspired by the calibre of the Beedie community, Erik co-founded an alumni investment fund Cohort Capital Inc. and raised over 4 times the target, where he is Managing Partner for fellow EMBA alumni and colleagues to invest together in search funds.

Erik is committed to doing business differently, where the bottom line, upon which society and the economy all depend, is life. He feels deep gratitude for being part of Brinkman Group, a company dedicated to redefining the business of sustainability. A for-purpose organization with a core mission to add value and affirm all life and, by extension, benefit everything else.