Va
lerie began her journalism career with Gannett, Inc., working at the Wilmington (Delaware) News Journal and later at USA Today and the Gannett News Service. She’s the recipient of multiple Associated Press awards, Gannett’s “Outstanding Achivement by an Individual,” the company’s highest editorial award and the Temple Free Press Award, given annually to a single individual for reporting excellence. She has been the subject of profiles in both Sports Illustrated and on “Dateline NBC.” Helmbreck went to work for the DuPont Co. in 1996 as a Marketing Communications Manager and managed a company collaboration to digitally share molecular biology data in the U.S. and Europe.
In 2005, she joined Progressive Business Publications (parent company of IT Manager Daily and PBP Media), where she oversees coverage of IT news and information for the company’s print and online publications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a Journalism concentration from the University of Delaware where she did post-graduate study in computer programming, e-commerce and Web design. She is a member of the National Geographic Society and the Fruit of the Month Club.