Brigit Helms

Brigit Helms is an American expert in global development, financial inclusion, and social entrepreneurship. Throughout her career, she has worked in many countries 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. ​

Helms attended Santa Clara University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. During her undergraduate years, Helms engaged in activism, leading protests against apartheid in South Africa and the MX missile deployment in the Marshall Islands. ​

She earned a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). A Masters of Arts and Ph.D. in Development and Agricultural Economics from Stanford followed. Helms’ doctoral dissertation was titled, “Small-Scale Industrialization in the Guatemalan Western Highlands.”

Career

Helms joined the U.S. Department of Commerce in March 1986 as an International Economist in the Caribbean Basin Initiative division, focusing on investment policy in the region.

From 1993 to 1996, Helms worked at the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy, on microenterprise and microfinance across Latin America and the Caribbean.

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. After a decade at CGAP, Helms moved to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, as Sector Leader for East Asia and the Pacific. There she contributed to the launch of SME Banking programs in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Later, Helms became Head of Advisory Services for Indonesia. ​

In 2010, Helms stepped in as CEO of Unitus, Inc., an international nonprofit organization centered on addressing global poverty through microfinance acceleration. ​

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. ​

Beginning in 2012, Helms directed the Support Program for Economic Enterprise Development (SPEED) in Mozambique for Development Alternatives, Inc (DAI), a global development company.

In 2016, Helms became the General Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN, now IBD Lab), an entity of the Inter-American Development Bank. 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.

Helms returned to DAI in 2017 as Vice President of Technical Services. ​

In 2020, Helms was appointed Executive Director of Miller Center for Global Impact, Santa Clara University’s social enterprise accelerator program.

Board Membership

Helms has served on non-profit boards including the AlphaMundi Foundation, BRAC USA, Pomona Impact, and MFO .

Publications

In 2018, Helms published Access for All: Building Inclusive Economic Systems, with DAI. The book demonstrates how economic systems can benefit the base of the pyramid. It explores inclusive economics and innovative, scalable solutions in complex environments. ​

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.