Elizabeth Ploshay, communications director for Bitcoin Magazine and an elected board member of the Bitcoin Foundation, is leaving the publication to join the account management team at BitPay.
Ploshay’s new position at BitPay was announced on the company’s official blog. In her capacity as Account Manager, Ploshay will work to enroll more charitable organizations and political campaigns in the bitcoin ecosystem.
The addition of Ploshay to BitPay’s account management team represents yet another high-profile talent acquisition by the company. Earlier this week, BitPay announced that former Visa exec Tim Byun would serve as its new chief compliance officer.
In a statement on the BitPay blog, Ploshay wrote:
“I look forward to investing my time with this strong team to spread awareness about the numerous benefits of bitcoin.”
Ploshay’s push for bitcoin charity
Speaking at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami earlier this year, Ploshay stumped for bitcoin use in charitable giving. “Bitcoin is definitely a tool for empowerment,” she told the audience.
Bitcoin enables non-profits to conduct financial transactions more easily, and often times, it may be cheaper to send funds to those in need.
Ploshay indicated in her BitPay statement that her focus would be to increase awareness of these benefits among nonprofit organizations and campaigns.
She said:
“I mainly will be seeking to get nonprofits, charities and political organizations on board to start accepting bitcoin donations.”
Ploshay is also a donor and volunteer for the BitGive Foundation. The nonprofit seeks to aid charitable organizations by launching bitcoin fundraising campaigns. Bitgive recently held a bowling tournament with bitcoin companies to facilitate those efforts.
A political focus for bitcoin
Last September, Ploshay was elected along with Micky Malka to the Bitcoin Foundation’s board of directors. At the time, Ploshay leveraged her background as a US congressional staffer to prove to Foundation voters that she had the policy experience necessary to be effective.
In her statement, Ploshay expressed plans to use this background to help BitPay become a processor of choice for political campaigns, saying:
“With the upcoming mid-term election, I hope to use my experience as a former Congressional Staffer in Washington, DC to bring bitcoin, and BitPay, into as many political campaigns as possible.”
Bitcoin has already begun to have an impact on US politics, and fundraising efforts for political campaigns in particular.
US Congressman Jared Polis announced in May that he would accept bitcoin donations, and is one of a group of politicians who have embraced the digital currency.
Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay
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