It’s with great pleasure that we welcome Luiza Palma to the Litecoin Foundation as Director of Social & Human Rights. As a champion of women and human rights for over twenty years, Luiza is excited to use her experience to help the Litecoin Foundation further our mission to allow Litecoin to empower people from all walks of life. We recently sat down with Luiza to learn more about her and why she decided to join the foundation.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Firstly, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luiza Palma and I am a Portuguese National from Lisbon, born in Angola.

My Professional background is in investment banking and asset management. I started my career as a forex trader back in the 80’s. Although my career started in finance, I have been working as an advocate for human rights in various capacities since 2001. Today, this is where my real passion lies.

Following the global economic crash in 2008, I witnessed hunger all around the world and saw firsthand how human integrity was shattered. From that moment on, I have been identifying crises and finding ways to turn them into opportunities.

Among my various roles, I am also a Peace Ambassador for the United Nation’s Women Federation for Global Peace (“WFWP”). It is an organization whose stated purpose is to encourage women to work more actively to promote peace in their communities and the greater society. WFWP contributes to the work and global mission of the United Nations in three main ways: 1) Peace-Building, 2) Moral Education and 3) Poverty Eradication. It has members in 143 countries.

As far as my human rights career, there are a few notable milestones I’d mention:

In 2013, I was recognized by the 12 th Century Vaticano Order – Sovereign Order of Malta – as Dame of Magisterial Grace for upholding human dignity and caring for people in need through medical, social and humanitarian work, and philanthropic human right causes.

In 2016, I created, developed and made a worldwide registration for the Social Compliance Regulator bill for Human Rights, Corruption, Gender Index and Planet Policies Model.

In May 2017, I was awarded “Iconic Women Creating a Better World” by All Ladies League — the world’s largest all-inclusive international women’s chamber and a global movement for the Welfare, Wealth, and Wellbeing of women. There are 500 chapters and 90,000 members across 150 countries. I was also appointed the Chairperson for Portugal chapter.

In December 2018, I become the Honorary Ambassador for Zorha Orchestra, the first Girls Afghan Orchestra Orphanage where adversity was transformed into survival means.

I was also Mentor of First Colloquium in Portugal for all Middle East and GCC Women Ambassadors and was the Portuguese government’s Economic advisor for Finanças Empresariais in 2010 (SME’s Development Bank). I hold a Degree in Economic International Affairs with Master in Economic Journalism.

With thousands of cryptocurrencies and related organizations out there, what attracted you to the LF?

First, let me say that it is an honor for me to be part of Litecoin Foundation and the Litecoin community. In September 2018, I met David Schwartz from the foundation, and after digging into Litecoin I realized that what Charlie Lee had created could have massive implications for Human Aid.

Some of the things that attracted me to Litecoin are the integrity of the organization; the governance structure of the foundation; and of course Litecoin’s technology, which I believe is perfectly suited for sustainable social rights, gender diversity and humanitarian projects under what I’m calling “Litecoin Way Programs.”

How does this role align with what you’ve done in the past?

This role is an extension of the roles I have been playing in the areas of gender diversity and social rights.

Litecoin has fast and cheap cross-border transfer speed and allows for micropayments, where transaction can be sent from one crypto wallet to another in less than 3 seconds and confirmed in 2.5 minutes. To facilitate human aid in today’s world, we need this type of technology.

More than 800 million people in the world are food insecure and approximately 15 people die every minute from starvation. On top of this, things like the daily suffering of 650 million Indian women and girls remains unnoticed. A system that allows monetary aid from anywhere in the world to arrive in minutes is the human aid payment system that we need to help combat these crises.

Litecoin has earned the right to play a part in humanizing our society and it is my duty and honor to help the Litecoin Foundation along this path by making connections with organizations around the globe that can help promote and extend the power of Litecoin.

What are you most excited about going forward?

Going forward, I am most excited about educating my peers and the organizations that I work with about the potential Litecoin holds for the world. While the public and media focus much of their attention on crypto as a speculative investment, too little is discussed about its potential as a sustainable solution to help resolve many social, economic and humanitarian issues at a global scale. I hope to play a small role in changing this.

I would like to give a deep thank you note to Charlie Lee for believing in the vision that I am bringing to the team. I’m confident that this vision, along with my professional background, my humanitarian activities, and experiences in policy making will play a role in helping people realize the transformative power of Litecoin, and ultimately make the world a better place.

Thank you. Obrigada.