Manager, Center for Studies in Higher EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley
Helena Brykarz is part of the senior management team at Global Footprint Network, where her responsibilities include fundraising, human resources and developing partnerships. Her background has primarily focused on strengthening NGOs and promoting leaders who provide innovative solutions to ennvironmental challenges. She has several years of experience recruiting senior management staff for NGOs around the world, having led at least 100 successful searches. She has also consulted for international foundations, including the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship from 2005 to 2008. Plus, she was the Programs Manager for UNEP’s World Environment Day in San Francisco in 2005. As Program Executive for the Goldman Environmental Foundation, Helena helped develop the world’s largest international prize for grassroots environmentalists. For 14 years, she researched and promoted hundreds of environmental leaders around the world, often working to protect their human rights. She also contributed to the Goldman Fund’s grantmaking program and created a unique human rights and environment initiative that led to collaboration between the two movements. Helena is a co-founder of Rainforest Alliance, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and later worked on Peace Corps staff as a recruiter and administrator. Helena earned a Master’s in Environmental Studies from Yale University and a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Russian studies from the University of Rochester.