NUL and UnidosUS Join the Airbnb Housing Council to Ensure Equity and Inclusion

By National Urban League
Published11 AM EDT, Tue Apr 29, 2025
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More than 15 years since its founding, Airbnb continues to be an economic lifeline for people around the world with 40 percent of hosts saying the income from hosting helps them stay in their homes. To help ensure more people can benefit from the economic opportunities of hosting and homeownership, Airbnb is expanding partnerships with leading organizations through the Airbnb Housing Council and the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy.

In January 2024, we launched the Airbnb Housing Council as part of our commitment to partner with governments and communities on the housing challenges they face. Chaired by former mayor of Baltimore Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the Council brings together leading independent housing organizations and experts to advise Airbnb on policies, partnerships and initiatives we can support that not only help spur housing supply but also prioritize inclusion and access for all communities.

Since launching, the Council has served as an incubator of ideas, providing valuable guidance on how the company can best support coalitions, research, and policies to increase the country’s housing supply and advance housing equity. For example, the Housing Council has shaped Airbnb’s strategy for supporting local housing reform efforts, including a $200,000 contribution to Up for Growth and YIMBY Action, which will support their grassroots efforts to build more housing in communities across the US. The Housing Council also endorsed Airbnb’s support of Proposition 5, a California ballot measure to increase funding for affordable housing and infrastructure projects, and our advocacy for fair short-term rental rules that ensure renters—who are more likely to be cost burdened—have the same rights as homeowners to share their home.

Building off this work, we’re proud to welcome two new members to the Housing Council: 

  • Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League and former Mayor of New Orleans
  • Laura Arce, Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives, UnidosUS

Representing two of the nation’s foremost civil rights organizations, Laura and Marc bring deep expertise in equity, inclusion, and expanding access to affordable homeownership. Their leadership ensures that underrepresented communities remain a central part of the conversation on housing affordability. On the Council, they will help inform how we can be better partners to cities facing complex housing challenges and create more equitable opportunities for individuals to achieve economic success through homeownership and home sharing. Laura and Marc join our ten existing Housing Council members.

“Hosting has been an instrument utilized by the African American community to creatively build wealth. We look forward to working with Airbnb’s Housing Council to help both address the root cause of the housing crisis in our cities as well as expand economic opportunities through hosting for members of our community.”

—Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League

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