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[[File:Brigit Helms Headshot (1).png|Brigit Helms]]



'''Brigit Helms''' is an American expert in [[global development]], [[financial inclusion]], and [[Social entrepreneurship|social entrepreneurship]]{{cite web |title=Brigit Helms, Executive Director |url=https://millercenterglobal.org/author/bhelms/#:~:text=A%20Santa%20Clara%20University%20alumna,economic%20policy%2C%20and%20social%20entrepreneurship. |website=Miller Center for Global Impact |publisher=Santa Clara University}}. Throughout her career, she has worked around the world in private, public and nonprofit sectors. Her contributions leverage market forces to address global poverty.

==Background and Education==
Helms was raised in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a Mexican mother and American father.
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Helms attended [[Santa Clara University]] where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science{{cite web |title=Global Development Leader Named Executive Director of Miller Center |url=https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/june-2020/global-development-leader-named-executive-director-of-miller-center.html |website=News and Events |publisher=Santa Clara University}}. During her undergraduate years, Helms engaged in activism, leading protests against [[Apartheid|apartheid]] in South Africa and the MX missile deployment in the Marshall Islands.
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She earned a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies and International Economics from the [[School of Advanced International Studies|Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies]] (SAIS){{cite web |title=Brigit Helms - Miller Center for Global Impact |url=https://councils.forbes.com/profile/Brigit-Helms-Executive-Director-Miller-Center-for-Global-Impact/a66351c3-f14f-432f-adf5-01ff8480f12c |website=Forbes Nonprofit Council |publisher=Forbes}}. A Masters of Arts and Ph.D. in Development and Agricultural Economics from [[Stanford University|Stanford]] followed{{cite web |title=Brigit Helms - Miller Center for Global Impact |url=https://councils.forbes.com/profile/Brigit-Helms-Executive-Director-Miller-Center-for-Global-Impact/a66351c3-f14f-432f-adf5-01ff8480f12c |website=Forbes Nonprofit Council |publisher=Forbes}}. Helms’ doctoral dissertation was titled, “Small-Scale Industrialization in the Guatemalan Western Highlands.”

==Career==


Helms joined the [[United States Department of Commerce|U.S. Department of Commerce]] in March 1986 as an International Economist in the [[Caribbean Basin Initiative|Caribbean Basin Initiativ]]e division, focusing on investment policy in the region{{cite web |title=Brigit Helms, General Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund |url=https://www.fundacionmicrofinanzasbbva.org/revistaprogreso/en/brigit-helms/ |website=Progreso Latin American Legal Affairs Review |publisher=BBVA Microfinance Foundation}}.
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From 1993 to 1996, Helms worked at the [[International Fund for Agricultural Development|International Fund for Agriculture Development]] (IFAD) in Rome, Italy, on [[Micro-enterprise|microenterprise]] and [[microfinance]] across Latin America and the Caribbean{{cite web |title=Brigit Helms, General Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund |url=https://www.fundacionmicrofinanzasbbva.org/revistaprogreso/en/brigit-helms/ |website=Progreso Latin American Legal Affairs Review |publisher=BBVA Microfinance Foundation}}.


Helms spent thirteen years in three different roles at the [[World Bank Group]]. As Lead Microfinance Specialist at the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a global partnership, she worked on aid effectiveness and financial inclusion{{cite web |title=Global Development Leader Named Executive Director of Miller Center |url=https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/june-2020/global-development-leader-named-executive-director-of-miller-center.html |website=News and Events |publisher=Santa Clara University}}. After a decade at CGAP, Helms moved to the [[International Finance Corporation|International Finance Corporation (IFC)]], the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, as Sector Leader for East Asia and the Pacific{{cite web |title=Global Development Leader Named Executive Director of Miller Center |url=https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/june-2020/global-development-leader-named-executive-director-of-miller-center.html |website=News and Events |publisher=Santa Clara University}}. There she contributed to the launch of [[SME banking|SME Banking]] programs in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Later, Helms became Head of Advisory Services for Indonesia.
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In 2010, Helms stepped in as CEO of [[Unitus Labs|Unitus, Inc]]., an international nonprofit organization centered on addressing global poverty through microfinance acceleration{{cite web |title=Unitus, Inc. Announces Dr. Brigit Helms as Chief Executive Officer. |url=https://unituslabs.org/updates/unitus-inc-announces-dr-brigit-helms-as-chief-executive-officer/ |website=Unitus Labs |publisher=Unitus Labs}}.
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Helms then moved joined [[McKinsey & Company]] as Senior Expert in the Social Sector Office, helping to build the firm’s Global Financial Inclusion practice, an initiative of the Social Sector Office{{cite web |title=Brigit Helms |url=https://sid-us.org/brigit-helms |website=SID-US |publisher=Society for International Development United States}}.
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Beginning in 2012, Helms directed the Support Program for Economic Enterprise Development (SPEED) in Mozambique for [[DAI Global|Development Alternatives, Inc]] (DAI){{cite web |title=Global Development Leader Named Executive Director of Miller Center |url=https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/june-2020/global-development-leader-named-executive-director-of-miller-center.html |website=News and Events |publisher=Santa Clara University |access-date=29 March 2026}}.


In 2016, Helms became the General Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN, now IBD Lab), an entity of the [[Inter-American Development Bank]]{{cite web |title=Global Development Leader Named Executive Director of Miller Center |url=https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/june-2020/global-development-leader-named-executive-director-of-miller-center.html |website=News and Events |publisher=Santa Clara University |access-date=29 March 2026}}. IDB Lab conducts high-risk experiments to test new models for engaging the private sector in economic development problems in Latin America and the Caribbean{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://bidlab.org/en/about/about-us |website=IDB Lab |publisher=IDB Lab}}. Their work concentrates on emerging businesses and smallholder farmers.
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Helms returned to DAI in 2017 as Vice President of Technical Services{{cite web |title=Brigit Helms |url=https://www.alphamundifoundation.org/brigit-helms |website=AlphaMundi Foundation |publisher=AlphaMundi Foundation}}.
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In 2020, Helms was appointed Executive Director of Miller Center for Global Impact, Santa Clara University’s social enterprise accelerator program.{{cite web |title=Global Development Leader Named Executive Director of Miller Center |url=https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/june-2020/global-development-leader-named-executive-director-of-miller-center.html |website=News and Events |publisher=Santa Clara University}}.
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Helms characterizes her role at the organizations she’s worked at as an [[Intrapreneurship|“intrapreneur”]] or guerrilla leader, finding solutions for those she has aimed to serve.

==Board Membership==
Helms has served on non-profit boards including the AlphaMundi Foundation, [[BRAC (organisation)|BRAC USA]], Pomona Impact, and MFO {{cite web |title=Brigit Helms |url=https://nextbillion.net/authors/brigit-helms/ |website=NEXTBILLION |publisher=William Davidson Institute}}.

==Publications==
In 2018, Helms published Access for All: Building Inclusive Economic Systems, with DAI{{cite web |title=Access for All: Building Inclusive Economic Systems |url=https://www.amazon.com/Access-All-Building-Inclusive-Economic/dp/1732704007 |website=Amazon Books |publisher=Amazon}}. The book demonstrates how economic systems can benefit the base of the pyramid. Seeking to address the rapidly evolving landscape of the development world, this book compiles the latest thinking and practices on inclusive economics and innovative, scalable solutions in complex environments.
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Helms is a frequent contributor to leading publications including Forbes, ImpactAlpha, Impact Entrepreneur, and the Guardian.

==Personal Life==
Helms raised her two children, Hugo and Paloma, across multiple countries. With a strong interest in languages, she is an avid traveler and loves cycling and hiking.

==References==