Marc Cohen

Chief of Staff

Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce

Marc Cohen became Chief of Staff at the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce in December 2018. In his role he directly oversees government relations, legislative affairs, advocacy, and is the primary policy advisor to the Rochester Chamber’s CEO, Robert J. Duffy.

Marc is charged with identifying process improvement opportunities, best practices, cost-saving measures, working with partners to promote and enhance regional workforce/economic development efforts, serving as Mr. Duffy’s and the Rochester Chamber’s representative at outside forums and on community work groups, and overseeing the daily operations of the Chamber’s executive office.

Marc serves on a variety of boards including Gilda’s Club of Rochester and the United Way of Rochester’s Emerging Leaders Society, and is a liaison to the Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI), the Go All electric Community Impact Initiative, the Roc EmployABILITY Council, and the ROC City Coalition. Marc aided the Monroe County Executive’s transition as staff lead for his Economic and Community Development committee and is a principal staffer for New York’s COVID19 Finger Lakes Region Control Room. He also volunteers as an EMT with Brighton Ambulance.

Prior to joining the Rochester Chamber, Marc served as a Trustee for the State University of New York and as President of the SUNY Student Assembly, elected to represent the 1.4 million students across SUNY’s 64 campuses. During his time with SUNY, Marc worked on issues including food insecurity, college access and affordability, diversity and inclusion, and mental health.

Marc grew up in Amherst, NY and graduated summa cum laude from the University at Albany before completing his Master of Public Administration from UAlbany’s Rockefeller College. While at the University at Albany Marc worked as a Research Fellow in the Office of the Provost and co-authored the book Diversity at College: Real Stories of Students Conquering Bias and Making Higher Education More Inclusive. The book was named as a finalist for the 2020 Foreword INDIEs award and was chosen as a silver winner of the 2021 Distinguished Favorites of the Independent Press Awards.