Markets Wired

WASHINGTON – Today, the United States Department of the Treasury announced new members of staff who will serve in senior roles. As the country faces a deep economic downturn triggered by a global pandemic, these crisis-tested and experienced leaders are prepared to address the urgent economic and financial policy decisions facing the nation. These choices reflect the Administration’s commitment to building a team of foremost experts with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

 

Biographies of the appointees are listed below in alphabetical order:

 

Marti Adams, Executive Secretary       

Marti Adams is returning to the Treasury Department from the global advisory firm Brunswick Group where she counseled clients on reputational matters ranging from crisis and issues management to executive profile raising, corporate positioning and thought leadership. She is a trusted senior advisor with nearly 15 years of experience advising C-suite executives, elected officials, and government officials operating in the toughest media, political, business, and regulatory environments. Prior to Brunswick, Adams served New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, as First Deputy Press Secretary, and later as Deputy Communications Director. Prior to City Hall, Adams served in the Obama-Biden administration and worked on both Obama-Biden campaigns. She first joined the Treasury Department in the Office of Public Affairs on the first day of the Obama-Biden Administration, where she served as the spokesperson for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. A native of McLean, Virginia, Adams is a proud graduate of Spelman College.

 

Ryan Jacobs, Chief Speechwriter and Senior Advisor

Ryan Jacobs joins the Administration from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was Head of Speechwriting and spent the last year helping its leaders respond to COVID-19 and the pandemic’s adjacent economic crisis. Jacobs previously served in the Obama-Biden Administration as Chief Speechwriter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. A graduate of Yale College and Columbia Business School, he is originally from New Jersey. Jacobs lives in Washington, D.C. with his fiancée.

 

Alfred I. Johnson, Deputy Chief of Staff

Alfred I. Johnson most recently served as Co-founder and CEO of Mobilize, the events management and volunteer recruitment platform that connects mission-driven organizations and their supporters. From 2009 to 2012, Johnson served in the Obama-Biden Administration as Special Assistant to the White House Chief of Staff, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets at the Treasury Department, and Special Assistant on the Treasury Department’s Financial Crisis Response Team. Johnson began his career as a Regional Field Director for the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and son.

  

Jacob Leibenluft, Counselor to the Secretary    

Jacob Leibenluft was most recently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a research fellow at New York University School of Law’s Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance. Between 2011 and 2016, he served in a variety of roles in the Obama-Biden White House, including as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Prior to joining the White House, he worked at the Treasury Department from 2009 to 2010. Leibenluft also served as economic policy director on the 2012 Obama-Biden reelection campaign and as senior policy advisor for the 2016 Hillary for America campaign. Since leaving the Obama-Biden administration, Leibenluft worked as a senior adviser at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Executive Vice President for policy at the Center for American Progress. Originally from Maryland, he is a graduate of Yale University.   

 

Calvin Mitchell, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs

Calvin Mitchell brings over 25 years of experience in strategic communications, providing counsel to senior-level government and business leaders. Mitchell began his government service as a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service. He has also served in the U.S. government in various communications and public affairs roles in the U.S. Department of State, the National Security Council and White House Press Office, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He was previously Executive Vice President for Communications at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Head of Corporate Affairs at Thomson Reuters, and Managing Director and Global Co-head of Corporate Communications at Credit Suisse. A native of Ohio, Mitchell is a graduate of Yale University.

 

Didem Nisanci, Chief of Staff

Didem Nisanci most recently served as the Global Head of Public Policy at Bloomberg L.P. and led the Secretariat of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Prior to Bloomberg, Nisanci served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Obama-Biden Administration. In that role she advised the Chair on issues including operational, policy, legislative, strategy, and communication matters. During her tenure, Nisanci also served as the SEC deputy to the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Prior to the SEC, she served as Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment. Prior to that, she served as Deputy to the Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department. Nisanci graduated from Smith College and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two daughters.

  

Julie Brinn Siegel, Deputy Chief of Staff

Julie Brinn Siegel joins the Treasury Department from the Nominations team of the Biden-Harris transition. She previously served as Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Senior Counsel for Economic Policy where she advised Senator Warren on banking, financial regulation, consumer protection, housing, tax, and labor policy. Julie has also worked in the Office of the Director and the Legal Division at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Previously, Julie served in multiple roles in the Obama-Biden Administration, including in the Office of the White House Chief of Staff, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of the White House Counsel. At the beginning of her legal career, Julie served as a law clerk to Judge Peter J. Messitte of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.  Julie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School, and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and son.

 

###