By Laura Murphy
Last year, when stories of discrimination on Airbnb emerged, the company reached out to me to lead its anti-discrimination efforts. To be honest, I was skeptical. As someone who has spent my life working for civil rights in the public and private sectors, I’d grown accustomed to seeing companies deploy crisis management teams to make a public show of action, while doing little in reality to address discrimination in their ranks.
However, from its CEO to its community organizers, Airbnb was clearly committed to not only take responsibility for instances of bias on its platform, but to actively identify and eliminate bias and discrimination for employees, hosts, guests, and the broader community.
This was not a one-time response from a company in crisis, I thought. It is central to its fundamental mission of creating a world where “anyone can belong anywhere.”
In September 2016, I published a report outlining a series of steps that Airbnb had agreed to implement to fight discrimination. Those steps include:
- Instituting a world-class anti-discrimination policy– the Airbnb Community Commitment– with the help of Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Individuals who do not accept the community commitment are prohibited from using Airbnb.
- Hiring a permanent, full-time engineering team to listen to complaints and improve our platform to eliminate bias, including reducing the prominence of photos.
- Encouraging the adoption of “Instant Book” listings, where hosts automatically accept guests instead of choosing who to accept and reject. One million listings are now available via Instant Book.
- Launching an “Open Doors” policy: if a guest anywhere in the world feels like they have been discriminated against, we will find that guest a similar place to stay, whether on Airbnb or in a nearby hotel.
- Offering implicit bias trainings designed by Dr. Robert W. Livingston of Harvard University to hosts and employees.
- Expanding efforts to recruit at historically black colleges.
- Partnering with Urban Alliance to boost opportunity for underprivileged youth.
- Issuing a rule requiring all candidate pools for senior level positions to include women and candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Working with community organizations and civil rights leaders, including the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, to expand the number of people of color who can access the economic benefits of home sharing.
While there is much work to be done, these initial efforts have already garnered support from the Congressional Black Caucus, the Human Rights Campaign, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and other civil rights leaders.
These steps are critical for the future of home sharing around the world, including right here in the Rose City. Last year, 3,400 Portlanders welcomed 314,000 travelers, with even more (316,000 Portlanders) using Airbnb to travel across the country and around the world.
Nearly two-thirds of Portland hosts are women and over a quarter are over the age of 50– highlighting how home sharing is not only helping millennials pay off student loans, but is also helping Americans age in place by providing a critical source of supplemental income.
In addition to generating over $30 million in income for Portland hosts, Airbnb guests generated nearly $120 million in direct spending at local businesses and $2.2 million dollars in transient lodging taxes for affordable housing.
Now more than ever, home sharing is creating economic opportunity and bridging boundaries. When a host meets a guest with a smile and a taste of their hometown; when a traveler discovers a new sound, taste, or experience; or when we gather hand-in-hand to celebrate together– as over 2 million people did in Airbnb listings on New Year’s Eve– we create cross-cultural connections that break down barriers and make the world more friendly and familiar.
Laura Murphy is a senior advisor to Airbnb. She also heads her own public relations firm and is former director of the Washington D.C. office of the ACLU.
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