Elizabeth Yee

Elizabeth Yee is executive vice president (programs) of The Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation headquartered in New York City. It was chartered by New York State legislation in 1913 with funding from Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, with the mission “to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” In its early years it funded global public health, medical education, and yellow fever vaccine research; in the mid-20th century it supported agricultural programs that came to be known as the “Green Revolution”; and in recent years it has focused its work on energy, health, food, and climate.Open the full entry, an American philanthropy, responsible for the foundation’s global programs, regional offices, partnerships, and learning and impact measurement. She previously worked in finance for 17 years on transactions including infrastructure and energy deals, joined 100 Resilient Cities in 2015 and joined the Rockefeller Foundation in 2019.

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Key facts

Early Life: Education

Yee is a 1994 graduate of Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, and later earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and German from the University of Pennsylvania University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania, commonly called Penn, is a private research university and Ivy League member in Philadelphia. It traces its origins to a 1740 charity-school project; Benjamin Franklin proposed his academy in 1749, classes began in 1751, and a 1791 merger established the institution under its present name. Penn has 12 schools, with undergraduate education concentrated in arts and sciences, engineering, nursing and Wharton. Enrollment totaled 29,384 in fall 2025, and the fiscal 2025 endowment was $24.81 billion. As of October 2026, J. Larry Jameson was president, with his term scheduled to end on June 30, 2027.Open the full entry.⁠[1][1][2]

Early Years: Infrastructure Finance in Investment Banking

Yee spent 17 years in financial services at Morgan Stanley Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is an American global financial services firm that grew from an investment banking partnership into a publicly traded financial group spanning investment banking, securities trading, wealth management, and investment management.Open the full entry, Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, originating, structuring and executing more than $30 billion in infrastructure, energy, commodity and derivatives transactions. As a public finance banker, she developed financing plans for U.S. cities, municipal and state agencies and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, on projects involving roads, water and wastewater, solid waste, nonprofit hospitals and pension financing. At Lehman Brothers and Barclays she co-headed the pension and other post-employment benefits business, and later at Barclays BarclaysBarclays is a banking and financial services group headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with Barclays PLC as its parent company. It traces its origins to a London goldsmith bank established in 1690 and developed through bank mergers, overseas expansion and investment banking reorganisations. Its businesses span UK retail and corporate banking, private banking and wealth management, global investment banking and US consumer banking.Open the full entry Capital she co-led the public power and utilities business.⁠[3][2][2][2][3]

2010Award for Financing the Milford Wind Corridor Project

She and the Barclays team structured the financing for the 200-megawatt Milford Wind Corridor project of the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) and its members the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Burbank Water and Power and Pasadena Water and Power, which won The Bond Buyer’s 2010 Deal of the Year award and its Far West Deal of the Year award; her team twice won The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year award.⁠[2][2][3]

2015–2019Working at 100 Resilient Cities

From 2015 to 2019, Yee held several senior roles at 100 Resilient Cities, a program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, where she was responsible for building strategic partnerships, working with member cities and investors to develop and mobilize financing solutions, and supporting more than 100 nonprofit and for-profit organizations in implementing resilience projects around the world. She served as the organization’s vice president of city solutions, while also overseeing the global delivery, operations and research functions of the city solutions team.⁠[3][1][2]

2019Joining the Rockefeller Foundation

In 2019, Yee joined the Rockefeller Foundation as managing director for climate and resilience and later became chief of staff; as executive vice president (program strategy) and chief of staff, she oversaw global programs and strategic priorities and served as a strategic adviser to the foundation’s president, Rajiv Shah Rajiv ShahRajiv Shah is an American development policy official and philanthropic leader who served as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2010 to 2015 and has been the 13th president of The Rockefeller Foundation since 2017.Open the full entry.⁠[4][1]

April 11, 2024Co-Chairing the Climate Advisory Council

On April 11, 2024, the Rockefeller Foundation announced the creation of a Climate Advisory Council to advise on the foundation’s climate portfolio; the council meets three to four times a year and its members serve two-year terms. Yee co-chairs it with COP26 President Alok Sharma.⁠[5][5][5][5][5]

September 9, 2024Discussing the Foundation’s Climate Strategy

In September 2024, in an interview with the environmental news site Mongabay, Yee described the Rockefeller Foundation’s commitment to invest $1 billion over five years to scale climate solutions, with priorities including bringing energy to the nearly 1 billion people who lack reliable electricity and advancing regenerative agriculture; she said the climate crisis is currently the top threat to the foundation’s mission, and emphasized cross-sector collaboration and the role of the Asia-Pacific region.⁠[6][6][6][6][6][6]

November 26, 2024Commenting on the Outcome of COP29

After the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), Yee, on behalf of the foundation, acknowledged the progress made at the conference, including operationalizing the loss and damage fund, commitments by multilateral development banks to increase climate finance, and raising the New Collective Quantified Goal to $300 billion a year, but said these still fell far short of what is needed.⁠[7][7]

January 22, 2025Statement on the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

On January 22, 2025, Yee expressed disappointment at the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and said the foundation would continue to work with partners to advance economically competitive solutions.⁠[8][8]

May 1, 2026Closing Remarks at AfricaXchange 2026

In May 2026, the Rockefeller Foundation held AfricaXchange 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, to mark the 60th anniversary of its Africa regional office; in the closing session, Yee said the task of philanthropy is to take risks that others cannot take and to build trust where it is lacking.⁠[9][9][9]

Other Positions

According to her Rockefeller Foundation profile as of October 2026, Yee is a member of the Administrative Board of Sustainable Energy for All, a trustee of Punahou School, a member of the Co-Impact advisory council and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; she is also a visiting fellow at Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania and co-chair of the Climate Coalition for Lower Manhattan.⁠[4][3][3]