Abstract: TIME 100 Next Leaders When they emigrated from Nigeria, Wally Adeyemo’s parents - a nurse and an elementary-school principal - could scarcely have imagined that their young son would quickly grow to become one of the U.S.’s top economic policymakers. Having previously worked in the Obama White House, the Treasury Department, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Adeyemo serves today as Deputy Treasury Secretary - the first Black American to hold the job. Adeyemo’s fortitude in helping drive our economic response to Russia’s war in Ukraine earned him the distinction of being sanctioned and blacklisted by Vladimir Putin.