David Plouffe, the former top aide to President Barack Obama, has joined the board of advisers of Rubicon, the waste management company co-founded by Nate Morris, a longtime friend of Sen. Rand Paul, the company announced Friday.
Plouffe, who will also serve as a strategic adviser, actually started in August, but the company waited until now to share the word — along with the news that it had raised $50 million in new funding. “We wanted to hold the news to announce it in conjunction with the raise,” Morris said.
It’s yet another corporate role for Plouffe, who joined the ride-sharing service Uber in September 2014 as a senior vice president of policy and strategy. Rubicon, it so happens, aims to be the Uber of recycling and trash.
Rubicon’s hope is that Plouffe’s knowledge of the federal government, his connections, and his experience at Uber will help the company cut through legal red tape.
“Waste and Recycling is an industry highly-impacted by policy and I don’t think there is anyone in the country with the city, state and federal regulatory experience that David has, as exhibited during his time at Uber,” Morris said.
The 34-year-old Morris, who hails from Lexington, Ky., is a close friend of Paul’s, and has often acted as a top fundraiser for the Kentucky senator and 2016 Republican presidential candidate. Over the past few years, Morris has been working to connect Paul to major donors around the country to prepare him for his White House bid.
In May, Uber announced that Plouffe would shift roles, serving on the company’s board and also working as a strategic adviser. His previous role was focused more on day-to-day operations.