Helen is currently reading for a Masters in Childhood Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London. She began her career in children's rights working with a community of street children in Indonesia in 1994, then spent eight years working with children's rights advocacy group ECPAT UK (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking). At ECPAT Helen was involved in developing and implementing participatory activities for and with sexually exploited young people which included setting up a national campaigning organisation for young people.  

Between 2004-2006 Helen was based in Bangkok and worked as a Consultant on Children's Participation at the East Asia Pacific Regional Consultation for the UN Study on Violence Against Children, producing and evaluating Minimum Standards on Consulting with Children. Since then Helen has taken on a number of consultancy projects (for Plan International, Save the Children and others), in particular writing children-friendly versions of child-focused policy statements and strategies.