Helene T. Carter

Helene T. Carter serves as Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Paine College where she was recruited and then promoted to lead a newly established Institutional Development unit designed to support Alumni Relations, Communications & Marketing, Scholarship and Endowment Campaigns, and render support for the team that directed the legislative agenda for the Institution.  

Ms. Carter served on an elite team who steered the application that resulted in Paine College being listed in the National Register for Historic Places and declared a Historic District. In pursuit of membership with Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), she led the Applicant stage for Paine College and currently serves as TRACS Liaison for the Institution. She developed strategies that increased the Annual Scholarship Fund and currently leads the UNCF Campus Campaign to meet and exceed its fundraising goal. In 2019, Ms. Carter cultivated the single largest cash gift from Paine alumni Dr. David and Mrs. Betty C. Peterson in the amount of $1.8 million that satisfied the outstanding mortgage on the HEAL Complex. 

An avid relationship builder, she cultivated the Tom Joyner Foundation Campaign for both Claflin University (2002) and for Paine College (2010). Ms. Carter has served on the Historic $30 Million Capital Campaign Committee for Claflin University and carved her niche as an award-winning Editor and publisher for campaign publications that boosted the Campaign’s visibility. The publications were cited for design excellence by the SC Affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women. During her tenure at Claflin as Director of Public Relations (1998-2007) and Director of Special Events (2007-2009), she cultivated a USA Today feature story about the Call Me MISTER Teacher Education program headquartered at Clemson University with a satellite program at Claflin University. The USA Today article caught Oprah Winfrey’s attention and as a result, the Oprah Winfrey Angel Network donated $100,000 to the program which helped to reduce the Misters’ tuition.