My first instinct on seeing the title was "What does someone like this (or Al Gore, or any other politician) have to offer a tech startup?"
Then the article makes it more clear: "What’s interesting about bringing Rice onto Dropbox’s board is how normal it feels. Dropbox needs people with international experience to help it at once deal with foreign governments that have blocked its use — China, for example — and as it works to spread a product developed in one country to others that are culturally different."
Her connections at Stanford may help, though perhaps they're not as hard to find.
Then the article makes it more clear: "What’s interesting about bringing Rice onto Dropbox’s board is how normal it feels. Dropbox needs people with international experience to help it at once deal with foreign governments that have blocked its use — China, for example — and as it works to spread a product developed in one country to others that are culturally different."
Her connections at Stanford may help, though perhaps they're not as hard to find.