Helen Zell is the Executive Director of the Zell Family Foundation. She is an active philanthropist and thought leader in the arts and education, with an emphasis on music, literature, visual arts, theater, early childhood and primary public education.

Helen is the Past Chair and member of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and a Trustee of Steppenwolf Theatre. She is a Trustee and former Chair of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and a Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She also serves on the boards of directors of Start Early and The Chicago Public Education Fund, a nonprofit organization working to improve public education in Chicago.

Helen’s lifelong passion for great literature and commitment to her alma mater are reflected in her advocacy of the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. The Zell Family Foundation endowed the university’s Master of Fine Arts degree program in Creative Writing, now known as the Helen Zell Writers’ Program.

Helen also has a long history of supporting the arts and education in Chicago. Among numerous other initiatives, she led SEMPREALWAYS, the campaign to secure the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s long-term vitality.

She holds a Batchelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Michigan.