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Christopher Helfrich

CEO, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation

Christopher Helfrich is a social entrepreneur and nonprofit leader who currently serves as the President and CEO of Stephen and Ayesha Curry's Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (ELP).12 He helped launch the foundation in July 2019 with a mission to unleash the potential of every child by improving the lives of kids and families in Oakland, the Bay Area, and across the country.12

Under Helfrich's leadership, ELP has:

  1. Expanded to include over 30 community partnerships with organizations like Kaiser Permanente, Workday, Salesforce, World Central Kitchen, and the Alameda County Community Food Bank.12
  2. Facilitated the delivery of over 25 million meals to Oakland students and families struggling with food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.12
  3. Raised and invested more than $32 million in just three years.2
  4. Developed initiatives such as partnering with 130 local restaurants to feed the community, launching the Eat. Learn. Play. Bus to deliver books and nutritious meals, and building 150 Little Town Libraries in under-resourced parts of Oakland.2

Prior to joining ELP, Helfrich served as:

  • CEO of the Starlight Children's Foundation3
  • Head of the Nothing But Nets Campaign at the United Nations Foundation3
  • Director of Development and Marketing at Public Citizen3
  • Associate Director of The Fund for Davidson and Director of Development at WDAV Public Radio (NPR) at Davidson College3
  • Director of Development at KRTU Jazz Radio at Trinity University3

Helfrich's educational background includes attending the Loomis Chaffee School and Trinity University.3

Highlights

Sep 29 · linkedin

If you’re in the Bay Area please consider joining me and volunteering with Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation next Saturday, October 7, as we come together to rebuild our fifth Oakland schoolyard of the year.

These schoolyard builds are hands-on, fun, community events. Volunteers are needed for activities such as mural painting, assembling playground structures, building outdoor classroom spaces, gardening, and more. No experience necessary and good vibes all around. Find more information and sign up to volunteer here: https://lnkd.in/gWAc97FF

Thanks!

Sep 6 · linkedin

Along with Stephen, Ayesha, and the entire Eat. Learn. Play. team, I’m excited to share the bold new vision that we’ve been working on for over a year at Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.

As part of an ambitious effort to transform the school experience for a generation of Oakland students, we are committed to raising and investing $50 million+ over the next three school years as we seek to have the greatest possible impact on kids in our community across all three pillars of our work.

Related Questions

What inspired Chris Helfrich to join forces with the Curry family?
How has the "whole child, whole school" approach impacted Oakland's public schools?
What are some of the most successful initiatives of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation?
How does Chris Helfrich measure the success of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation's programs?
What challenges has Chris Helfrich faced in his role as CEO of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation?
Christopher Helfrich
Christopher Helfrich, photo 1
Christopher Helfrich, photo 2
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Location

Oakland, California, United States