Adam Connaker (he/him) serves as vice president of investments at the Surdna Foundation, responsible for stewarding the endowment and ensuring investment strategy reflects the foundation’s commitment to social justice and long-term impact. He was promoted to his role in February 2026. 

Adam leads Surdna’s overall endowment strategy, overseeing asset allocation, manager relationships, investment policy compliance, and performance in close partnership with the foundation’s external CIO and Investment Committee. As a member of Surdna’s Leadership Team, he contributes to organizational strategy and cross-functional alignment, collaborating with program staff to identify mission-aligned opportunities. Drawing on over 15 years of impact investing experience, he continues to evolve the endowment toward greater sustainability and mission alignment, including refining Surdna’s mission-related (MRI) and program-related (PRI) investment strategies, with the foundation’s impact-oriented portfolio now exceeding $200 million. 

Prior to joining Surdna in 2022 as Director of Impact Investing, Adam served as director of Innovative Finance at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he advanced the foundation’s program-related investment and grant strategy, spearheading climate finance and racial justice investment initiatives. He began his career in private equity, where he developed a foundation in investment analysis across a range of industries. 

Adam serves on the Community Investment Management Impact Advisory Council and previously served on the board of Impact Bay. He holds a bachelor’s in finance from the University of Minnesota and a master’s in global affairs from New York University. 

A proud New Yorker, Adam tries to make the most of everything the city has to offer: flag football on the weekends, lying in a park, or gathered around the table hosting friends for dinner.