Background:
Ajuah Helton is a partner at Bellwether in the Strategic Advising practice area. She is a seasoned education and nonprofit leader.
Prior to Bellwether, Ajuah worked for five years at the KIPP Foundation as vice president of KIPP Forward, its high school counseling, post-secondary match, and career preparation program. Ajuah also served as the chief program officer of iMentor, the national mentoring-for-college-success organization, and BUILD, the national entrepreneurship-for-college-success program. She also served as the Teach For America Metro Atlanta vice president of external affairs — leading fundraising, district and community partnerships, marketing and communications, and data and impact strategy. In addition, Ajuah worked as The Enterprise Center chief of staff to president Della Clark. For the past decade, she has also been an independent consultant specializing in theory of change and theory of action counsel, board development, and program evaluation.
Ajuah holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English education from Clark Atlanta University and a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in teaching, learning, and leadership.
Why I do this work:
As the daughter of a Civil Rights activist of the 1960s, I grew up in local politics and advocacy organizations ranging from the United Negro College Fund and NAACP to working congressional campaigns for Ron Dellums and Barbara Lee. I was afforded many opportunities growing up through my mother’s hard work and tenacity, and I am incredibly grateful. However, I believe that opportunity should not be exceptional, it should be the norm for every young person.
Contact Information
Issue Expertise
Charter Schools
Innovation and Personalized Learning
Urban Education
