Helene's visionary, creative, always inquiring, intelligent management, her organizational and networking skills as well as her warm personality make her an
outstanding professional.
Wolfgang Linz, Executive Director CDS International (Ret.)
Hélène Sostarich-Barsamian is Founder and President of Development Advisers International, a fund-raising consulting firm with more than 20 years of experience guiding national and international
non-profits to tangible results. She brings to the firm a multicultural background coupled with an education and experience gained on both sides of the Atlantic as well as a deep understanding and
knowledge of the philanthropic environment in the US, and especially that of a most competitive NY.
Most
recently, Hélène was Director of Institutional Advancement in the US for IESE the Spanish
Business School
that has since 2010 established an Executive Education center in New York.
Prior
to joining IESE, Hélène was for 7 years the Executive Director of Friends of
Freie Universität Berlin (FFUB), one of the largest German Universities
established after the war in West Berlin with help from the United States.
During her tenure heading the FFUB, Hélène launched several very successful
initiatives, attracting great visibility and considerable sponsorship for the
organization; among her projects was the annual Transatlantic Bridge Award
Gala, whose recipients over the years included renowned architect Norman
Foster, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic
Forum (WEF), Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, and Paul Volcker,
former Federal Reserve Chairman and former chairman of President Barack Obama's
economic advisory group.
In addition to holding full-time positions in institutional development for educational organizations, Hélène also devoted her time as a volunteer parent, spearheading a multi-million dollar capital campaign at the school attended by her two sons, and providing fund-raising consulting services for the Cerebral Palsy International Research Foundation.
Hélène’s
career spans the academic, for profit and non-profit sectors, having held early
on teaching positions at NYU and Upsala College, followed in the
years preceding her position as Executive Director of FFUB, working at ABB in
the oil and petrochemical division, then in the Real Estate Investments arm of
Prudential Financial. She returned to an academic setting in 2000, as Assistant
Dean for Administrative Affairs at the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and
International Relations at Seton Hall University,
where she also undertook donor stewardship.
Hélène,
who speaks five languages, holds degrees in French and German Languages and
Literatures from Rice University in Houston,
Texas, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium and New York University.
Hélène
sits on the Board of several community, national and international organizations, holds membership in
AFP and WID, and she is often invited to speak at the King Baudouin
Foundation’s annual workshop on fund-raising issues facing international
organizations.
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