Helms’s previous experience includes program management for the Institute of International Education, EF Education, and CET Academic Programs, and faculty development program management at the University of Minnesota. She has also worked as a consultant to a number of organizations in the international and higher education fields, including the World Bank, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, and the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Helms holds an AB degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and an MBA and PhD in higher education administration from Boston College.