Helmut Drews joined the Shield Land Stewardship Group in March 2026 as director of finance and operations. In this role, he provides strategic leadership in financial stewardship and operational sustainability across family-owned and nonprofit entities. His work includes supporting the ranchlands of the Shield-Ayres-Bowen family in Central and West Texas, family-held properties in Travis and Hays counties, and the land and facilities of the Campsite at Shield Ranch, a program of the Shield Ranch Foundation.
Prior to joining Shield Ranch, Helmut founded Encina Farms, an agricultural business focused on specialty pork production. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at TIBCO Software, Sungevity, and Deloitte.
Helmut holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Outside of work, Helmut enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and music concerts – he also hopes to get better at golf and tennis. He lives in northwest Austin with his wife, Ashley, and daughters, Maeve and Freya.
