Adrian Hale

 

Adrian joined Foundry as its Director of Economic & Community Development in December of 2021. Adrian is a proud son and champion for Rochester NY, who previously created and oversaw the office of Workforce Development, Regional Talent Strategy, and Education Initiatives at the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. In addition to his responsibilities at Foundry, he serves on several boards, most notably as a community board member on the Democrat and Chronicle’s Editorial Board. Adrian was a driving force in making education coverage a priority, which resulted in the D&C’s Time to Educate Project, a public education campaign about challenges facing the Rochester City School District and potential solutions to address them. In recognition of Adrian’s work and service on behalf of young people in our community, he was awarded the 2019 Teen Empowerment Champion for Youth Leadership Award, making him the youngest recipient in the award’s history.

 

Before his role as a civic leader at the Greater Rochester Chamber, Adrian served in the United States Military. Adrian was an active-duty Marine for five years. As a Marine he made two combat deployments to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). After his honorable discharge from the Marines, Adrian re-enlisted in the US Air Force Reserves, where he served for three years. 

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Adrian joined the Foundry team because he believes in the socio-economic problem-solving power of decentralized infrastructure technologies, particularly for communities such as Rochester. Adrian graduated with an Associate of Science in Liberal Arts, with a concentration in Social Science from SUNY Monroe Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Yale University. Adrian lives by an ethos of, “Do what you can today, until you can do more tomorrow.” 

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