WASHINGTON—At first blush, Adewale Adeyemo and his prospective boss, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, make for unlikely partners.
A 39-year-old from Southern California, Mr. Adeyemo emigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria with his parents as a small child. A lawyer by training, he first came to Washington to serve in the Obama administration.
Ms. Yellen is a 74-year-old labor economist from Brooklyn, who spent decades in academia and has held some of the government’s top economic-policy-making jobs over a 40-year career.
Both, however, were raised in working-class neighborhoods by parents with a keen appreciation for economic opportunity. That common experience led them to careers in economics and public service. Now, Mr. Adeyemo is President Biden’s pick to serve as Ms. Yellen’s deputy Treasury secretary.
“My focus will be advancing policies that provide everyone access to the same economic opportunities I have enjoyed,” he will tell the Senate Finance Committee at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, according to his prepared remarks. “Taking steps to ensure that all Americans share in our prosperity is not only a moral imperative, it is essential to our long-term economic growth.”
