Valerie Jarrett, who served as senior advisor to President Obama, is joining Lyft’s board, the company announced Monday.
The team already includes Lyft’s co-founders, Ben Horowitz from Andreessen Horowitz, Ann Miura-Ko from Floodgate and other industry players. The company believes that Jarrett, who previously chaired the Chicago Transit Board, “brings experience tackling the problems and opportunities related to urban transportation.”
It is not the first time that a major rideshare player has brought on someone from the political world to help take on regulators. Another former senior advisor to President Obama, David Plouffe, worked at Uber from 2014 until earlier this year.
While competitor Uber has come under fire for its cultural problems and lacks a CEO, Lyft has carried forward full speed ahead. In the release, the company says that in 2017 it has already completed more rides than in all of 2016.
Lyft recently raised $600 million in capital at a $7.5 billion valuation. The company has raised more than $2.6 billion to date.