Trinity Alumnus Chris Helfrich Gives Memorable Speech

By Amy Drozdiak

Chris Helfrich ('03) gives keynote speech
at the Communication Day
Photo by Josie Liu

Chris Helfrich, the executive director of Nothing But Nets, a United Nations Foundation campaign, kicked off the third annual Communication Day at Trinity University with an inspirational keynote speech on Friday.

In his speech, Helfrich, who graduated from Trinity University in 2003, reflected on how the experiences and skills he acquired as a student at Trinity, and the profound influence from his Trinity mentors, have helped equip him to successfully progress his career into one with the power to make a difference in the world.

As the executive director of Nothing But Nets, a global, grassroots foundation, Helfrich works to raise awareness and funding to help fight malaria through providing mosquito nets and other materials to communities with high malaria death rates, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa.

The campaign has raised about $60 million, delivered nearly 10 million nets, and reduced the malaria death rate among children under 5 years old in sub-Saharan Africa by 71% since the foundation’s inception in 2006, Helfrich told the audience.

Over the years, the campaign has forged partnership with big names such as the Sports Illustrated magazine, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, American Idol and the Golden State Warriors. Helfrich said the campaign, together with its partners, is well on the way toward eradicating the malaria epidemic.

Helfrich credited the communication and interpersonal skills he developed at Trinity for his success as a fundraiser and international advocate. He also believed that his commitment to put his time, skills, and passions into work that makes the world a better place came from a mindset that he had cultivated at Trinity.

As a student at Trinity, Helfrich majored in Communication, played on the soccer team and worked at the KRTU radio station. He called his time at KRTU “incredibly influential” and commended the “real world application” skills he learned in his Communication courses.

Helfrich also gave a shout out to Trinity soccer coach Paul McGinlay as one of his most important mentors. “Paul brought me to Trinity, and I’m forever grateful to him for that,” he said. “I owe so much of where I am today to [Paul].”

McGinlay said that Helfrich was “a great guy” who connected with Trinity upon his first visit to campus as a soccer recruit. “He made the decision before he left campus,” McGinlay said with a smile.

Another of the influencers Helfrich referenced, Professor Sammye Johnson, was the person who asked him to be the keynote speaker.

“One of the goals of Communication Day is to bring in a variety of alumni with different backgrounds,” Johnson explained her choice of Helfrich. “I only invited former students who had classes with me and I enjoyed having. Chris was both of those.”

Helfrich said he was humbled to return to campus as a keynote speaker. “This place has given me so much,” Helfrich added. “When I’m able to reflect on my time at Trinity, the foundation of who I am and what my career has become can be traced back to this place and the people here, who continue to influence me.”

The Communication Day is an event held by the Department of Communication to help current communication majors better understand how to leverage their major for their future career through the keynote speech, workshops, alumni panels and networking.