Helen Whitcher

Helen Whitcher is a consultant specializing in youth workforce development, non-profit administration, program design and creating career pathways.  Prior to consulting, she spent over 20 years working with YouthBuild, a youth development model for 16-24 year old young adults with significant barriers.  Her experience with YouthBuild has spanned numerous positions including Sr. Director of Field Services and Technical Assistance for YouthBuild USA, Executive Director of Palmetto Community Hope Foundation, a South Carolina Affordable Housing organization that integrated YouthBuild students into affordable housing activities, and as a consultant in South Africa and the Caribbean to support the design, implementation and sustainability of youth development programs.  She has a focus in implementation of strategies that support and facilitate the interface of workforce placements through public private partnerships.

Throughout all of this, the individual recipient has remained the focus.  An example is as  a Prime for Life Substance Use Prevention instructor, and a facilitator of the first SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) initiative in a community setting, Helen’s passion has been to support young people to success by allowing them to arrive at the decisions that will positively affect their futures.  This approach is shared through training with staff, executive coaching and with the program recipients themselves.

Ms. Whitcher holds a Masters Degree in Public Affairs from McCormack Institute, University of Massachusetts, a Bachelor of Science from Temple University, and certification in substance use prevention curricula. She is a former member of the local youth council of the Trident Workforce Development Board, and still mentors young people who were a part of her early YouthBuild programs. She resides in Charleston, SC. And Los Angeles, CA.