Financial Literacy and Education Commission Public Meeting 

May 26, 2021 

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES 

Janet L. Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury 

On January 26, 2021, Janet Yellen was sworn in as the 78th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. An 

economist by training, she took office after almost fifty years in academia and public service. She is the first 

person in American history to have led the White House Council of Economic Advisors, the Federal Reserve, and 

the Treasury Department. 

Janet Louise Yellen was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in 1946. Her mother, Anna Ruth, was an elementary school 

teacher while her father, Julius, worked as a family physician, treating patients out of the ground floor of the 

family’s brownstone.

In 1967, Secretary Yellen graduated from Brown University and went on to earn her PhD at Yale. She was an 

assistant professor at Harvard until 1976 when she began working at the Federal Reserve Board. There, in the 

Fed’s cafeteria, she met fellow economist, George Akerlof. Janet and George would marry later that year. They 

would go on to have a son, Robert, now also an economics professor. 

In 1980, Secretary Yellen joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, where she became the 

Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business and Professor of Economics. She is Professor 

Emeritus at the university. 

Secretary Yellen’s scholarship has focused on a range of issues pertaining to labor and macroeconomics. Her

work on “efficiency wages” with her husband George Akerlof studied why firms often choose to pay more than 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the minimum needed to hire employees. These businesses, they found, are often making a wise decision. Firms 

that offer better pay and working conditions tend to be rewarded with higher morale, reduced turnover and greater 

productivity. 

In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed then-Dr. Yellen to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Three years 

later, he named her Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. 

In 2004, Secretary Yellen began her third tenure at the Federal Reserve, this time as President of the Federal 

Reserve Bank of San Francisco. From that post, she spotted a worrying economic trend – a bubble in home values. 

When the housing bubble popped in 2008, Secretary Yellen helped manage the resulting financial crisis and 

recession. In 2010, President Barack Obama, appointed her Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve, before nominating 

her to succeed Fed Chair Benjamin Bernanke as the nation’s top central banker. Secretary Yellen would serve as 

Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 until 2018. 

On December 1, 2020, then-President-elect Biden nominated Dr. Janet Yellen to the post of Treasury Secretary. 

“She has spent her career focused on unemployment and the dignity of work,” he said, “She understands what it

means to people and their communities when they have good, decent jobs.”

Prior to serving at the Treasury Department, Secretary Yellen was a Distinguished Fellow in Residence with the 

Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. During 2020-2021 she served as President of the 

American Economic Association. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the 

Council on Foreign Relations. She was also a founding member of the Climate Leadership Council. 

Secretary Yellen has served on the advisory boards of the Bloomberg New Economic Forum, the Committee for 

a Responsible Federal Budget and Fix the Debt Coalition (CRFB), and the Washington Center for Equitable 

Growth Steering Committee. She was elected to the Yale Corporation as an alumni fellow in 2000, serving until 

2006. 

Dr. Yellen has received honorary doctorates from Bard College, Brown, the London School of Economics, NYU, 

the University of Baltimore, the University of Michigan, the University of Warwick and Yale from which she 

also received the Wilbur Cross Medal for distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic 

administration, and public service. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Uejio, Acting Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Dave Uejio was announced as the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by President 

Joseph R. Biden, Jr., on January 20, 2021. As the Bureau’s Acting Director, Mr. Uejio oversees a $600 million

budget and a 1,600-member workforce dedicated to protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive 

practices in the financial marketplace, through the enforcement of federal consumer financial law. Currently, the 

Bureau supervises over 150 depository institutions with assets totaling more than $10 billion. The Bureau also 

supervises mortgage originators and servicers and payday lenders, as well as companies from the consumer 

reporting, consumer debt collection, student loan servicing, international money transfer, and automobile 

financing financial marketplaces. 

Having been with the Bureau since 2012, Acting Director Uejio is committed to ensuring a smooth transition for 

President Biden’s nominated director, Commissioner Rohit Chopra. Acting Director Uejio will focus on taking 

all available measures to protect consumers, particularly vulnerable ones, negatively affected by the pandemic; 

he also will work to utilize the tools of the Bureau to tackle racial disparities and inequalities laid bare by the 

pandemic. 

Prior to becoming Acting Director, Mr. Uejio served the Bureau as Acting Chief of Staff, as Lead for Talent 

Acquisition, and, most recently, as the Bureau’s Chief Strategy Officer. As Chief Strategy Officer, Acting 

Director Uejio led the development of an integrative approach to strategic planning, policy prioritization, 

enterprise risk management, organizational performance, and program evaluation. Acting Director Uejio utilized 

this integrative approach to improve the strategic advice provided to the Director and to better translate the 

Director’s priorities into tangible, reportable, and auditable programs and initiatives.

In addition, to his experience at the Bureau, Acting Director Uejio has served in Human Resources capacities at 

the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 

Acting Director Uejio began his career in government service in 2006, when he joined the NIH as a Presidential 

Management Fellow. 

Acting Director Uejio is devoted to public service both as a profession and a calling. He co-chairs the Federal 

Innovation Council, which is a leading federal government interagency body to drive public sector innovation. 

He also co-founded the largest event to connect, develop, and inspire emerging public service leaders, the Next 

Generation of Government Summit. 

Acting Director Uejio received a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota and a

Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Todd M. Harper, Chairman, National Credit Union Administration 

Todd M. Harper was nominated to serve on the NCUA Board on February 6, 2019. The U.S. Senate confirmed 

him on March 14, 2019, and he was sworn in as a member of the NCUA Board on April 8, 2019. President Joseph 

R. Biden, Jr., designated him as the NCUA’s twelfth Chairman on January 20, 2021. As NCUA Board Chairman, 

Mr. Harper serves as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and represents the NCUA on 

the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure 

Committee. Prior to joining the NCUA Board, Mr. Harper served as director of the agency’s Office of Public

and Congressional Affairs and chief policy advisor to former Chairmen Debbie Matz and Rick Metsger. He is 

the first member of the NCUA’s staff to become an NCUA Board Member and Chairman.

Mr. Harper previously worked for the U.S. House of Representatives as staff director for the Subcommittee on 

Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises and as legislative director and senior 

legislative assistant to former Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pennsylvania). In these roles, he contributed to every major 

financial services law, from the enactment of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act in 

1999 through the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010. 

During the Great Recession, Mr. Harper coordinated the first congressional hearing to explore the creation of a 

Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund. He also spearheaded staff efforts in the U.S. House to 

secure enactment of a law to lower the costs of managing both the Corporate Stabilization Fund and the National 

Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. Mr. Harper led staff negotiations over several sections of the Dodd-Frank 

Act, including the Kanjorski amendment to empower regulators to preemptively rein in and break up “too-bigto-fail” institutions and proposals to enhance the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also 

developed the legislative framework for the bill that created the Federal Insurance Office to monitor domestic 

and international insurance issues. 

Mr. Harper holds an undergraduate degree in business analysis from Indiana University’s Kelley School of

Business and a graduate degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury 

Wally Adeyemo was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury on March 26, 2021. 

He has spent the majority of his career in public service, convening governments, companies, and organizations 

to move together toward achieving common goals. 

Adeyemo comes to the Treasury Department from the Obama Foundation, where he served as President beginning 

in August 2019. Before joining the Obama Foundation, Adeyemo served as a Senior Advisor at the Center for 

Strategic and International Studies and at Blackrock. He held a number of roles in public service before this. In 

the Obama-Biden Administration, Adeyemo served as Deputy National Security Adviser for International 

Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, where he worked as President Barack 

Obama’s Senior International Economic Advisor and was responsible for coordinating the policymaking process 

related to international finance, trade and investment, energy, and environmental issues. Adeyemo also served as 

President Obama’s representative to the G7 and G20. Adeyemo has also held several senior management positions

at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, including Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff under Secretary Tim 

Geithner and Secretary Jack Lew, as well as chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s provisions on

macroeconomic policy. 

In addition to his work on macro-economic policy, Adeyemo also served as the first Chief of Staff at the Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In that capacity, he helped to build the bureau’s initial executive leadership

team and served as a member of the CFPB Executive Committee, helping to protect American consumers from 

unfair, deceptive, or abusive consumer financial practices. Adeyemo was previously a member of the Aspen 

Strategy Group, which promotes widespread economic opportunity and the competitiveness of America. He also 

served on the boards of Demos, a New York-based think tank focused on social, political and economic equity 

issues, as well as on the Golden State Opportunity Foundation, which works to provide financial security to lowincome working people throughout California; and Just Homes, a faith-based affordable housing initiative based 

in Washington, DC. 

He holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from Yale Law School. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Operation Hope 

John Hope Bryant is an American entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and prominent thought leader on financial 

inclusion, economic empowerment, and financial dignity. He is referred to as the “Conscience of Capitalism” by 

Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines and James Herbert, Chairman and CEO of First Republic Bank. Mr. Bryant 

is named as Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “The Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans in 2020,” and American 

Banker magazine's 2016 “Innovator of the Year.” He is also one of Time magazine’s “50 Leaders for the

Future.” John Hope Bryant is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE, Inc. a non-profit provider 

of financial literacy, and economic empowerment services in the United States for youth and adults. He is also 

the Chairman and CEO of Bryant Group Ventures, and Founder and Principal of The Promise Homes Company, 

a minority-controlled owner of single-family rental homes in the United States. Five former U.S. presidents have 

recognized his work, and he has served as an advisor to three sitting U.S. presidents from both political parties. He 

has received hundreds of awards and citations for his work, including Oprah Winfrey’s Use Your Life Award,

and the John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education from the U.S. Treasury. He is the author of 

bestselling books Up From Nothing, The Memo, How the Poor Can Save Capitalism and Love Leadership. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League 

Marc Morial, who has been described as one of the few national leaders to possess “street smarts” and “boardroom

savvy, is the current President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights 

and urban advocacy organization. He served as the Mayor of New Orleans as well as the President of the U.S. 

Conference of Mayors. He previously was a Louisiana State Senator and was a lawyer in New Orleans with an 

active, high profile practice. He is a leading voice on the national stage in the battle for jobs, education, housing 

and voting rights equity. A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Pennsylvania, 

he has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by Ebony Magazine, one of the top 

50 Non Profit Leaders by the Non Profit Times, one of the 100 Most Influential Black Lawyers in America and 

he has also been inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta, GA. 
 

 

 

 

 

Marietta Rodriguez, President and CEO, NeighborWorks America 

Marietta Rodriguez is president and CEO of NeighborWorks America, a congressionally chartered nonprofit 

creating opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their 

communities. In more than two decades with NeighborWorks, Rodriguez has expanded its homeownership 

programs, increasing capacity, improving technical assistance, and strengthening the infrastructure of its network, 

which includes more than 240 groups across the country. While managing a budget of over $150 million, 

Rodriguez also serves as the organization’s primary spokesperson, sharing her expertise with major media outlets. 

She earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish from Lake Forest College and is a graduate 

of the Kennedy School of Government/NeighborWorks America Achieving Excellence Program. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John W. Rogers, Jr., Chairman, Co-CEO & Chief Investment Officer, Ariel Investments 

John’s passion for investing began at age 12 when his father began buying him stocks as Christmas and birthday

gifts. His interest in equities grew at Princeton University, where he majored in economics, and over the two-plus 

years he worked as a stockbroker for William Blair & Company, LLC. In 1983, John founded Ariel to focus on 

patient, value investing within small- and medium-sized companies. Early in his career, John’s investment

acumen brought him to the forefront of media attention and culminated in him being selected as Co-Mutual Fund 

Manager of the Year by Sylvia Porter’s Personal Finance magazine as well as an All-Star Mutual Fund Manager 

by USA TODAY. Furthermore, John has been highlighted alongside legendary investors Warren Buffett, Sir John 

Templeton and Ben Graham in The World’s 99 Greatest Investors by Magnus Angenfelt. His professional 

accomplishments extend to the boardroom where he is a member of the board of directors of McDonald’s, NIKE

and The New York Times Company. John also serves as vice chair of the board of trustees of the University of 

Chicago. In 2008, John was awarded Princeton University’s highest honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award, 

presented each year to the alumnus or alumna whose career embodies a commitment to national service. 

Following the election of President Barack Obama, John served as co-chair for the Presidential Inaugural 

Committee 2009, and more recently, he joined the Barack Obama Foundation’s Board of Directors. John received 

an AB in economics from Princeton University, where he was also captain of the varsity basketball team. 
 

 

 

 

Justine Zinkin, CEO, Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners 

Justine Zinkin is CEO of Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners and Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union 

and has overseen the dramatic growth of both organizations since 2002. She has more than 15 years of experience 

in nonprofit and community development work. She previously served as Director of Economic Independence 

Programs at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and as Director of 

Workforce Development at Common Ground Community HDFC. Justine holds an M.B.A. from Columbia 

Business School, an M.S. in Population Studies from Harvard University's School of Public Health, and a B.A. 

from Brown University.