Don Graves, the former Joe Biden staffer and current KeyBank executive, will be appointed the Deputy Secretary of Commerce, NBC News reports.
Graves served as the executive director of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness during the Obama years and then worked as an economic policy adviser for Biden. He worked on Biden's presidential campaign during 2019 and 2020.
He has been a rising civic leader in Cleveland since his return from Washington D.C. as well. Professionally, Graves has been Key's head of corporate responsibility and community relations, which duties included overseeing the KeyBank Foundation. Moreover, he has been a fixture in local leadership, economic development and equity discussions. He was among the co-chairs of the Cleveland Rising summit in 2019, serves on a number of prominent area boards, and was discussed in leadership circles (with starry eyes) as a longshot Cleveland mayoral candidate in 2021.
Graves appointment has been reported alongside several others. A number of outlets are now reporting that Biden is appointing Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo as Commerce secretary, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as Labor secretary and Isabel Guzman, a California economic development official, as Small Business Administrator.