Faculty
Education
Cornell University | MBA
Columbia University | BA
North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA)
Universite de Paris IV (Sorbonne)
Antioch College
Expertise
Real Estate
Career Management
Blue Ocean Strategy
Interview Edge Techniques
Biography
Senior Talent Advisor whose extensive experience includes senior executive leadership roles at SoLa Impact private equity real estate development firm/largest developer of affordable housing in California/16th largest in the US/ranked by Inc. as 7th fastest growing Black-owned firm in America ($1B AUM, 299 employees/250 properties/5000 units), and management consulting at Korn Ferry (world’s largest human capital management consulting firm) for almost 10 years where he was promoted several times to Vice President & Managing Director (Senior Client Partner). During this time, he led client service relationships across Private Equity, Professional Services, and Advanced Technology specialty practices. Due to his international experience and successful expertise recruiting strategy management consultants for leading Chaebols such as Samsung and LG Group, he was part of a select small cohort invited to help launch the new office in Seoul, South Korea.
Earlier background includes teaching at the Berlitz School in Antwerp, Belgium, Totale Formation: Ecole de Langues in Paris, France, The Double Discovery Center at Columbia University in New York City, and NYANA (New York Association for New Americans) in New York City.
In addition, he has also given Master Class Career Management workshops at ASU’s WP Carey School of Business in Phoenix, Arizona, and Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management in Ithaca, NY.
On a personal note, Professor Helmholz grew up in West Africa during his formative years when his father served as a civil servant with the United Nations (World Health Organization).
He is also the proud father of his daughter, Margaux, and his earlier background includes the privilege of spending parts of his high school, college, and graduate studies in New York City as a result of his mother’s arrival to pursue her career as an artist and entrepreneur.
This was a truly extraordinarily epic moment in time when NYC was the epicenter of global art culture during a unique artistic epic underground renaissance boom across music, theatre, and art of an era defined by the likes of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and then-emerging bands such as the Talking Heads (profiled at storied venues such as CBGB’s and the Mudd Club- where he worked coat check back in the day).
Professor Helmholz is currently working on a book entitled ‘Lock, Stock, & Barrel: How to Bulletproof Your Career‘.