Helen Dragas

Helen E. Dragas is a Virginia real estate developer and the CEO of the Dragas Companies. She is also a former member of, and rector for, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors.

Dragas attended the University of Virginia and graduated with a B.A. in economics and foreign affairs in 1984. She also graduated from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration in 1988. By the early 1990s Dragas had become the President of the Tidewater Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Dragas Companies is a southeastern Virginia real estate development and building company founded by Dragas' father and uncle, George and Mark Dragas, in 1968. Helen Dragas’ first job, as a teenager, was interviewing customers at her family's company about their purchases. Helen Dragas was named president and CEO of the Dragas Companies in 1996 and has remained in that position since. Under her tenure, the company has received numerous local awards, and three national awards: the Lee Evans Award for Building Management Excellence in 1999, and the 2009 Lee Evans Award for Management Excellence in 2009, and the Best Builders Award from Builder Magazine, also in 2009. It is now the region's largest homebuilder, with a focus of improving upon the quality of low-price homes in the area.

In 2007 the Dragas Companies donated $1.5 million to the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake for their use in dealing with homelessness and improving education for children in poverty. In 2009 the Dragas Companies spent over $5 million to voluntarily remediate Chinese drywall that was installed by a subcontractor in over 70 homes without Dragas' knowledge. Helen Dragas was named Virginia Beach's 2009 First Citizen. She was also featured by The Virginian-Pilot in a 2010 article about successful female homebuilders and their achievements in the workplace.

In 2014, Dragas earned a top-15 spot in the Inside Business–Hampton Roads Business Journal’s Power List of people who shape and influence the region of over 1.6 million people. The editor noted Dragas’ tenacity and called for her to apply her leadership in helping the community combat challenges of economic growth, education, and workforce development.

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