Valerie Rockefeller chairs the Board of Directors of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, a nonprofit philanthropic services organization that helps accelerate philanthropy for a just world. She also co-chairs BankFWD, a network dedicated to persuading banks to phase out financing for fossil fuels and fund clean energy. Her professional background is as a middle school special education teacher for adolescents with learning differences and emotional disabilities. Valerie has a M.Ed. in Special Education from the Bank Street College of Education and a MAT in Social Studies from Teachers College, Columbia University. She majored in International Relations at Stanford University and worked at the U.S. Department of Education during the first Clinton administration. She serves as a trustee on the boards of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Achievement First, the Asian Cultural Council, the Collaborative for Spirituality in Education, Columbia University’s Teachers College, Greenwich Academy, and The Trust for Mutual Understanding. She was a trustee of Spelman College and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Institute K12 Climate Action Commission, and the Generosity Commission.

Valerie lives with her daughters Percy and Lucy and son Davis in Old Greenwich, CT.