For twenty-four years, Helen Cunningham was the Executive Director of the Samuel S. Fels Fund, a charitable foundation making grants in the fields of arts, education, and community in the city of Philadelphia. Before coming to Fels, Cunningham was the founding director of the College Access Program of the Philadelphia Education Fund. In this capacity, she planned and implemented a program to increase the number of Philadelphia public high school graduates who go to and complete college. Prior to this, Cunningham served as Program Officer in Education with the Pew Charitable Trusts for nine years. Her previous posts include Assistant Director of the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia and Acting Director of the Children’s Museum in Wilkes Barre. After college she worked as a public high school Spanish teacher. Cunningham received an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania; a B.A. from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. and she attended the University of Madrid in Spain. Cunningham speaks Spanish and is a trained Mediator.