Helima Croft’s career has been stellar from the start. Shortly after graduating from Princeton University with a Ph.D. in economic history, she was hired by the CIA and tasked with writing reports for the White House Cabinet. And with time, Croft’s career is only getting hotter. Today as a managing director at RBC Capital Markets, she is global head of commodity strategy, specializing in geopolitics and energy. She is arguably the market leader in geopolitics, and leads a team of strategists covering energy, metals and cross-commodities trends.

She is also a regular CNBC contributor.  “I feel like I have accomplished a lot,” Croft says, as she reflects on her 18-year career. “Sometimes I wake and think, ‘Gosh I can’t believe I’ve done this much.’ It’s almost exceeded my expectations.”

Croft began her career in 2001 as a CIA analyst covering West and central Africa. Having joined the CIA after the 9/11 attacks, she focused on energy security solutions as the U.S. looked to increase its non-Middle Eastern oil supplies. “We didn’t believe we had the resources in the U.S. and we saw ourselves as very dependent on foreign suppliers,” Croft says. “I was part of a whole effort within the administration to really try to bolster U.S. national security through additional sources of oil.”

Working for the CIA brought with it significant pressure, as the reports written for the Cabinet help shape policy. Croft wrote one for then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 

Get the nomination form for 2020. Deadline for submissions is Friday, August 30, 2019.