CarterBaldwin Executive Search, together with Lakeland Christian School, is pleased to announce the appointment of Joel Helm as Chief Development Officer.
Joel arrives with eight years of advancement experience built from scratch at one of Florida’s youngest public universities. He also has a personal and familial investment in the institution he will now serve.
“Joel is one of our own,” said Bryant Black, Head of School. “He is a Lakelander and a Viking with two children enrolled at LCS. He brings a wealth of experience to our advancement team and a deep commitment to the mission of Lakeland Christian School.”
Since 2018, Joel has served as Senior Director of Development at Florida Polytechnic University, Lakeland’s STEM-focused public university and one of the newest institutions in the state university system. He joined before Florida Poly had graduated its first class – before there was an alumni base to cultivate or a donor portfolio to inherit. Starting as Assistant Director of Development, he built the institution’s fundraising pipeline largely from the ground up, closing four seven-figure gifts including a $6 million commitment that required nearly three years of cultivation. He has been personally responsible for more than 75% of the institution’s fundraising production and spearheaded a capital campaign that surpassed $10 million for facility expansion and program growth.
Before moving into advancement, Joel served as head tennis coach at Palm Beach Atlantic University and spent several years in commercial real estate and financial services, including four years as a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual.
Joel holds a BS in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University, where he was a four-year team captain and Academic All-American in tennis.
About Lakeland Christian School
Founded in 1954, Lakeland Christian School is the oldest and largest private Christian school in Polk County, FL, serving 1,167 students from preschool through 12th grade. On a 29-acre campus in the heart of Lakeland, LCS provides an academically rigorous, intentionally Christian education that integrates biblical truth across every discipline. Accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools, Cognia, and the Association of Christian Schools International, the school has served Christian families across the greater Lakeland region for more than seventy years.
