Her professional portfolio encompasses schools, universities, galleries, national museums, festival organizations, local government and charities. She was a founder member of the education team at Tate Modern (2000) and on the directorate team that mobilized the new Design Museum, London (2016) before joining the V&A in spring 2018. Currently projects involve leading the V&A’s capital project to transform the Museum of Childhood through a co-design approach from a museum of material history to a future-facing museum for design and creativity with and for young audiences and families.
She gained her professional Doctorate in Education and Masters’ in History of Art from the University of London, and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Oxford University, also undertaking graduate studies at Rochester University, New York, USA in Comparative Arts. Whilst a teacher she took advantage of the summer breaks to volunteer on development education projects overseas focusing on art and literacy. She is a governor of Forest Hill School, London and on the Advisory Board for Chelsea Physik Garden, London.
At NEMO’s European Museum Conference 2020, Helen Charman will give an impulse speech to start off the conversation in the COVID-19 discussion group "The digital wave and its future potential for museums on 19 November.