Connie Gallippi is yet another example of an accomplished professional who discovered Bitcoin, fell down the rabbit hole, and decided to pursue a new life in which her skills and knowledge generate satoshis instead of U.S. dollars. After attending the inaugural Bitcoin Foundation conference with her brother in 2013, Gallippi came up with the idea of creating a nonprofit organization which collects donations in bitcoin and helps various humanitarian causes around the world. She launched BitGive.
“I was at a senior level in my former career, but being in that energy really brought it all together,” she said. “It had all the right ingredients for success. My former career was about working with nonprofits, most of the activity was about getting funding. So I married it with Bitcoin and realized there was a gap I could fill around a foundation which gives back and has social impact.”
Bitcoin Magazine’s first coverage of BitGive[1] appeared in July 2013 and included an interview with Gallippi — albeit a much shorter one than the video above represents. In the years that have passed, the bitcoin-powered charity has managed to support multiple humanitarian causes around the world. Some of the best known cases include the construction of a well in Kenya, the purchase of 644 mobile phones for medical workers in Nepal after a tragic earthquake and the creation of a children’s relief fund for victims of a typhoon in the Philippines.
BitGive has become one of the most successful and longest-standing Bitcoin projects, and the fact that the foundation is still around to support charitable causes is a testament to their efficient management and willingness to work for good causes. Unlike other projects which emerged during various market phases and then faded away, BigGive is still active and receives donations
