About Vanessa Bergmark

Vanessa is an East Coast native, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, who has called the East Bay home for nearly three decades. After graduating from The Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Crime, Law and Justice, she headed West, living first in San Francisco and Marin Counties before settling permanently in the city of Oakland. She fell in love with real estate when she bought her first home in 2002, deciding to become an agent at a large real estate franchise and moving up to management soon after.

In 2007, when one of Red Oak’s owners called with an offer to run their intensely local company, she eagerly took the opportunity to run a personalized, independent and local brokerage, moving away from the franchise model. She took over the ownership of the business in 2010, and has grown Red Oak to the largest independent in the East Bay cities we serve. She leads the company today as CEO where it continues to thrive, and spends a substantial amount of time touring the nation to speak about real estate and leadership within the industry. In 2023 she completed her Masters of Law in Conflict Resolution and Mediation from Pepperdine University, where she has turned market pressure and conflict into alignment, advocacy, and results for agents and clients alike. She is passionate about raising the bar in real estate nationally while improving the customer experience locally.

Vanessa resides in Upper Rockridge with her husband, an Oakland native, and their two children. Both in the East Bay, as well as abroad, and inspired by her travels in Africa, she is committed to serving organizations focused on conservation, global education, and empowering women to lead resilient, equitable communities.

She is a prominent player in national real estate organizations, and has received multiple recognitions:

• Red Oak has consistently ranked top 100 Brokerages in the SF Bay Area from 2014-2026

• Vanessa was ranked #14 in 2025, #16 in 2024, #10 in 2023, #7 in 2022, #22 in 2021, #26 in 2020, #27 in 2019 and #37 in 2018 in SF Business Times' 100 Top Women Owned companies in the SF Bay Area.

• A 2020 and 2019 RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker

• 2020 Swanepoel Power 200 and one of 2016/17’s top Social Influencers on social media platforms by Swanepoel Power 200

• Former member of CAR's Strategic Planning Committee 2014-2017

• Red Oak nominated at Inman Real Estate Connect 2013 as Most Innovative Brokerage, and top brokerage rebrand of 2018

• One of 2014 & 2015 101 Most Influential People in Real Estate by Inman News Group

• Red Oak has consistently ranked Top brokerage in the East Bay from Oakland Magazine 2015-2018