David Plouffe, the former top adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama who left the White House for Uber, is joining the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook who co-founded CZI along with his wife Priscilla Chan, broke the news in a Facebook status Tuesday that also announced the selection of Ken Mehlman, who formerly ran the Republican National Committee and served as a campaign manager for former U.S. President George W. Bush.
The company announced the two high-profile names with strong ties to each of the major political parties on the same day. Zuckerberg’s post featured a picture of himself and Chan sitting and laughing with Plouffe, who will be their new president of policy and advocacy. While he has distinguished his approach at CZI from other philanthropic efforts by emphasizing the role of engineering in social change, with this move, Zuckerberg is recognizing needs that extend beyond the role of technology, such as building relationships with governments and other partners.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.