Adewale Adeyemo, a Nigerian economist has been appointed as the President of the Obama Foundation. This was announced on the website of the Foundation.
Prior to his appointment, Adewale, popularly called “Wally” served the U.S Government in 2015, under President Barack Obama, as the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.
He is expected to work with the current leadership of the Foundation, including the Chairman of the Board, Martin Nesbitt and the CEO, David Simas.
He will also manage the Foundation’s day-to-day operations, helping to implement its overall strategic goals and vision.
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Former President of the United States, Obama described Adewale as a point person for international economic policy issues and expressed strong faith in him to do the job well after commending his work with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and curtailing recession home and abroad.
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“He helped establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and he’s been our point person on a range of international economic issues, including negotiations on strong currency agreements around the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I will be calling on Wally’s intellect, judgment and dedication as we sustain America’s global economic leadership, which reinforces our national security, and as we work with allies and partners around the world to create jobs and opportunity for all our people.”
David Simas in his reaction entertained the idea of working with Adewale and added that he was very thrilled to be meeting him.
Adewale’s background: He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, before moving to Yale Law School, where he bagged his Juris Doctor (JD) for further studies in specialised law. While at Yale, he was the Co-director, project on law and education for the university.
Adewale Adeyemo later joined the National Economic Council of the White House as Deputy Director, after serving at the Treasury Department, as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Jacob Lew. He was the Treasury’s lead negotiator on the currency agreement that was part of the Pacific trade deal.
Mr Adeyemo is a senior advisor to an American investment management corporation, BlackRock, with assets management worth 6.52 trillion USD and also to a U.S-based think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He is said to have “spent the majority of his career convening companies, governments, and organizations to move together toward achieving common goals”.
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