Stripe hires former Obama global entrepreneurship advisor to lead Atlas outreach

Stripe is looking to expand its program dedicated to helping foreign entrepreneurs do business in the U.S. To do so, it has hired Sarah Heck, the former lead advisor to President Obama on global entrepreneurship. She begins her role leading external affairs for its Atlas service in February.

A seasoned veteran of governmental affairs, Heck played a part in highlighting entrepreneurship in Cuba during President Obama’s visit last year. It was at this time when Stripe extended Atlas to Cuba, enabling startup founders in the island nation to set up shop in the U.S. Under the program, Stripe would incorporate the non-U.S. company as a business entity in Delaware and provide the entrepreneur with a U.S. bank account and Stripe merchant account, which can be used to accept payments worldwide. Today, Atlas has users in more than 110 countries, and Stripe claims thousands of startups have benefited from this program.

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It seems that the relationship between Heck and Stripe was a lasting one, and as the sun sets on the Obama administration, it’s time for the president’s team to seek employment elsewhere.

Stripe hopes that Heck will be instrumental in vastly expanding Atlas, bringing it to the attention of not only startups, but also non-governmental agencies, who constantly seek to raise funds supporting their efforts overseas. Besides Cuba, she has liaised with the startup community and governments worldwide, which may prove to be invaluable for Stripe.

“We created Atlas to provide entrepreneurs everywhere with the basic building blocks to start and scale a global internet business,” remarked Stripe chief business officer Billy Alvarado in a statement. “We’re thrilled to welcome Sarah to the team and marry her deep experience in building global entrepreneurship programs with our continued efforts to help more businesses get started.”