Daniel Helfman is the
principal of Social Venture Consulting, LLC, a New
York City-based firm that provides business development,
marketing, finance and operations assistance for
socially responsible companies and non-profit social
purpose businesses.
In 2003, Helfman served as an interim executive
for Jubilee Chocolates, a for profit socially responsible
start-up that is modeled after Ben and Jerry’s.
The company exceeded revenues from 2002 in the first
60 days of 2003 due to awards and publicity; therefore,
the consulting work involved demand planning, including
expanding production capacity, hiring staff, creating
systems for purchasing, sales, customer service
and more.
In 2002 Helfman primarily served as interim Chief
Operating Officer for The Enterprising Kitchen,
a social enterprise based in Chicago that manufactures
all-natural cold processed and glycerin soaps for
retail stores and private label. Duties included
restructuring debt, devising and implementing a
cash flow management tool, developing and implementing
a comprehensive marketing plan, establishing new
customer relationships, diversifying revenue streams,
expanding production capacity, reducing inventory,
and creating new efficiencies. $500,000 was raised
in 6 months, and revenues increased by 15%.
Prior to starting a consulting practice, Helfman
served as the Director of Business Development for
The Greyston Bakery and The Greyston Foundation
for three years. The Yonkers-based Bakery is a for-profit
wholesale bakery that trains and hires the hard-to-employ,
formerly homeless, formerly incarcerated, on welfare,
living below the poverty level and/or faced with
other obstacles to employment. During his tenure
with the Bakery, Helfman was instrumental in building
relationships with Ben & Jerry’s, Stonyfield
Farms and Cumberland Farms. In addition, he developed
new pricing models, conducted cost accounting analyses,
devised more efficient production systems, and increased
distribution and sales. As a direct result of his
work, the bakery business grew more than 25% (from
3.5 MM to 4.5 MM).
In his simultaneous capacity as business development
consultant to The Greyston Foundation, Helfman conducted
feasibility studies regarding new social venture
businesses, researched and wrote business plans,
and devised social and business models to attract
foundations and other investors support to finance
new operations.
Helfman holds a Master’s in Public Administration
from the Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service,
New York University; a significant portion of his
studies were conducted at the Stern School for Business
MBA Program. His Master’s Thesis analyzed
social and business outcomes produced by social
venture groups using metric tools such as The Balance
Scorecard and COMSTAT. Previously, he lived in Washington,
D.C. and worked for ten years in the consumer movement.
He served as a media director to several consumer
groups, and worked as a radio reporter and news
producer for NBC News. He earned his B.A. in political
science and history from the University of Denver.
