Valerie Rockefeller was a previous chair of the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. She also co-chairs BankFWD, a network to persuade banks to phase out financing for fossil fuel and to lead on climate.
Valerie's professional background is as a middle school special education teacher for adolescents with learning differences and emotional disabilities. She began her teaching career at Central Park East Secondary School in East Harlem, New York, and also taught in Australia. Valerie has a M.Ed. in Special Education from Bank Street College of Education and a MAT in secondary Social Studies from Columbia University Teachers College. She majored in International Relations at Stanford University, and worked as a confidential assistant to Secretary Richard Riley at the U.S. Department of Education during the first Clinton administration.
She also serves as a trustee of Achievement First, the Asian Cultural Council, Columbia University Teachers College, Greenwich Academy, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, 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 K12 Climate Action Commission, and the Generosity Commission.
Valerie lives with her daughters Percy and Lucy and her son Davis in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.