Mark Zuckerberg just nabbed Uber's head of policy for his charity work

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is getting serious about philanthropy.

The philanthropic endeavor of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, just recruited David Plouffe, Uber's head of policy and an Obama alum.

The longtime political operative will serve as president of policy and advocacy for the initiative, he announced on Facebook.

"I am thrilled to be joining Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan on the journey to advance human potential and promote equal opportunity thru the work of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative," Plouffe wrote in a Facebook post.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has so far focused on education, curing disease and science. Plouffe's political background could help the initiative make those goals closer to reality with the vast resources of the Facebook founder. Chan and Zuckerberg pledged $3 billion to curing disease in September.

"Curing disease, improving education through personalized learning and building technology and tools to help organizations reach their full potential are areas with wide spread support and massive potential for mobilization, great storytelling and smart policy engagement," Plouffe wrote on Facebook.

Before joining Uber, Plouffe ran President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign for office. In the White House, he served as Obama's senior advisor.

Plouffe will remain a member of Uber's board of directors, he said on Facebook.