Sandra L. Helton

About Sandra L. Helton

I bring a unique combination of global business acumen, strategic insights, financial expertise, and a commitment to corporate transformation with experience spanning the public and nonprofit sectors. My career successes revolve around steering organizations toward innovation and long-term value creation for investors through world-class governance. I have served on Nominating/Governance and Chaired Audit Committees spanning pharmaceuticals, health technology, financial services, and telecommunications sectors with companies such as OptiNose, Covetrus, and Principal Financial Group. My executive experience includes serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc, where strategic leadership and a focus on profitable growth saw a rapid doubling of returns and a tripling of stock price. I have extensive investment experience. As a fiduciary for pension funds, endowment and other corporate investment portfolios I delivered outstanding returns through asset allocation and investment manager decisions. In my roles as Trustee and member/chair of investment committees of non-profit organizations I provided oversight of investment of endowments, pension fund and cash portfolios of those organizations. And I was a board director of Principal Financial Group as the company transformed its captive investment function into a trillion dollar asset management business. Outside of my corporate engagements, I’ve remained actively committed to the nonprofit sector, serving on the Board of Northwestern Memorial Foundation and, previously, Northwestern Memorial Health Care. I have held leadership positions on various nonprofit boards, including the Chairman of the Corning Foundation and President of the Board of the Rockwell Museum. I’m also a member of several professional bodies, including the Center for Audit Quality Audit Committee Council, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), The Chicago Network, and the International Women’s Forum. In 2021, NACD recognized me as a Directorship 100 honoree. I hold an S.M. in Finance from MIT and graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Kentucky, where I was inducted into the College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2009. Committed to delivering innovative, high-quality products and services with a fully engaged workforce, I continue to lead and inspire others toward sustainable growth in an ever-changing corporate landscape.

Experience

1. Board Member Chair-audit Committee

   Optinose

   Feb 2018 — Present · Yardley, PA, US

Education

• University of Kentucky

  Bachelor of Science - BS

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Scientiae Magister - SM