Businessman, Philanthropist, and Director at Rockefeller Capital Management, David Rockefeller Jr. is a fourth-generation leader of the prominent Rockefeller family. Actively involved in the non-profit and environmental sectors, he believes that public-private partnerships are the key to strengthening the connections between business, government, and philanthropy.

An avid sailor, Rockefeller was a member of the Pew Oceans Commission, investigating the world’s oceans and providing the federal government with new policy recommendations. Following this involvement, Rockefeller founded Sailors for the Sea to promote environmental protection and educate the boating community about ocean health. In 2018, Sailors for the Sea joined forces with Oceana, the largest environmental NGO focused exclusively on campaigns to protect the oceans, and Rockefeller now sits on the board.

In 2009 Rockefeller teamed up with sailor Mark Schrader for the first-ever sailing circumnavigation of the Americas. Over 13 months, the crew made 50 port calls in 13 countries. Along the way, they took thousands of photographs and studied the oceans taking climatic and oceanographic measurements and observing currents, coral bleaching, and ocean acidification. The 2011 book, One Island, One Ocean, documents the voyage and the importance of ocean conservation.

David Rockefeller's passionate commitment to the environment goes deeper than the oceans; he is a past vice-chair of the National Park Foundation and the Alaska Conservation Foundation. In 2013, Rockefeller and two of his sisters established the Peggy McGrath Rockefeller Foundation to hold and manage 2,000 acres of farmland in Columbia County, NY. Operating under the name “Stone House Grain,” the farm is dedicated to using innovative, ecologically sound techniques to regenerate the soil and support new, young farmers.

Harvard-educated, Rockefeller is an advocate for the arts and arts education. He chaired the National Panel - Arts, Education and Americans, which produced the book, Coming to Our Senses: The Significance of the Arts for American Education. He also worked as a manager of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and served on committees of the National Endowment for the Arts and the board of National Public Radio. He is a Life Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The great-grandson of famed industrialist John D. Rockefeller, he is actively involved with his family’s philanthropic, real estate, investment, and legacy organizations. He served as Trustee and Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation, and as President of the Rockefeller Family Fund. He was twice Chairman of Rockefeller and Co., now Rockefeller Capital Management, a wealth advisory and asset management firm with approximately $18 billion in assets under management. Currently, he is a Trustee at The Rockefeller Brothers Fund.