Who is Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo the Nigerian-born lawyer

Adewale Wally Adeyemo, 39, was born in Nigeria and raised in the United States. President-elect Joe Biden appointed him on Monday, December 1. He is the first African-American Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

Adewale Wally Adeyemo, a former senior international economic adviser under the Obama administration, had served under former Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, whom Joe Biden has just appointed to head the African-American Treasury Department.

This is the highest level reached by an African-American in the U.S. government. The appointment of Adeyemo, 39, is one of Biden’s many key cabinet posts.

Born in Nigeria, Adeyemo grew up in California, where he graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and then went to Yale Law School for his legal training.

Before his appointment in the Obama administration, Adeyemo worked as a writer for the Hamilton Project and later served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to Jack Lew at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

He then worked as Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and was also the first Chief of Staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Elizabeth Warren.

In 2015, he was simultaneously appointed Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.

Known affectionately by his peers and associates as “Wally”, Adeyemo has spent his career working with organizations at the intersection of public policy, the private sector, and non-profit organizations focused on creating economic opportunity.

Adewale Wally is President of the Obama Foundation and provides advice on trade strategy, macroeconomic policy, and geopolitics to the CSIS economic program.

He also advises policymakers, business leaders, and non-profit organizations on a range of issues, including economic development, trade and investment, and strategies to address economic inequality.

Appointed Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council by President Obama in 2015, Adewale Wally Adeyemo was the President’s principal international economic adviser.

He was responsible for coordinating policymaking on international finance, trade and investment, energy, and environmental issues. He also served as the President’s representative to the G7 and G20.

Previously, Adewale Adeyemo held several senior positions in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, including Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff, as well as Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Macroeconomic Policy provisions.

In summary, facts about Adewale wally Adeyemo:

1. He was born in Nigeria and raised in Southern California
2. Adeyemo received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
3. He joined the Obama Foundation in August 2019 as its first president.
4. He joined the foundation after serving in a variety of positions in the Obama administration.
5. During the tenure of President Barack Obama, Adeyemo was the deputy director of the National Economic Council; The assistant secretary for international markets and development at the Treasury Department; deputy chief of staff of the Treasury Department in 2012; Chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for 16 months, starting in 2010.
6. Currently, he is the first African American Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

Wally was also the first Chief of Staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In that capacity, he helped hire the Bureau’s initial leadership team and create an agency dedicated to protecting U.S. consumers.

Adewale Wally Adeyemo is now a member of several boards and organizations, including the Aspen Strategy Group, the Board of Directors of Demos, and the Board of Directors of the Golden State Opportunity Foundation.