Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, a Nigerian-born attorney and former senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration, will serve as Deputy Treasury Secretary under former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who Biden plans to appoint to lead the Treasury Department.
39 years old Adewale Adeyemo is currently the President of the Obama Foundation. He previously served as the first Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics from 2015-2016, and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.
Wally Adeyemo has spent his career working with organizations that are at the intersection of public policy, the private sector, and nonprofit organisations that are focused on creating economic opportunity.
He provides advice on business strategy, macroeconomic policy, and geopolitics to the CSIS Economics Program.
Adeyemo also advises policymakers, business leaders, and nonprofits on a range of topics including economic development, trade and investment, and on strategies to address economic inequality.
Appointed as deputy national security advisor and deputy director of the National Economic Council by President Obama in 2015, Wally served as the president’s senior international economic advisor. He was responsible for coordinating the policymaking process on international finance, trade and investment, energy, and environmental issues.
He served as Obama’s representative to the G7 and G20. Prior to this, Wally held several management positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, including senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, as well as chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s provisions on macroeconomic policy and other important executive positions.
This will be the highest level so far, a Nigerian-American would attain in the US government.