Megan Cacace has joined Airbnb, Inc. as Director of Anti-Discrimination Policy & Equity
We're announcing today the hire of civil rights attorney Megan Cacace as Airbnb's new Director of Anti-Discrimination Policy & Equity Programs, where she will oversee the team responsible for driving research, supporting the development of inclusive products and driving policies that fight bias and discrimination on Airbnb's platform.
Following allegations in 2016 by Black guests who felt discriminated against by white Hosts, Airbnb commissioned an outside audit into discrimination amongst users on the platform in 2016, led by ex-ACLU official Laura Murphy. That report led to significant changes at the time, including a new Anti-Discrimination policy and the launch of a new Anti-Discrimination Product Team, a permanent team dedicated to trying to identify and root out bias. The team, the first of its kind within the technology industry, has now expanded to the Anti-Discrimination & Platform Equity Programs team, and consults with business units across the business to help them build products and policies that lead to equitable outcomes. The company has stood up groundbreaking initiatives such as Project Lighthouse, which was launched in partnership with Color Of Change to help uncover, measure, and overcome discrimination when booking or hosting on Airbnb.
Megan's hire signifies the company's continuing investment into anti-discrimination work and policies, and adds to a number of key leaders on teams across the company who are working collectively to advance this important work.
Megan is also the latest senior addition to Airbnb's Trust team, reporting to VP Donald Hicks, who joined the company in February. And most recently, Airbnb announced the hire of Juniper Downs - the company's new Global Head of Community Policy and Partnerships - who also reports to Hicks.
Megan joins us following 13 years at the law firm of Relman Colfax, where she served as a partner practicing civil rights counseling and litigation. Her work included Facebook's 2020 civil rights audit with Laura Murphy, who continues to advise Airbnb.
Megan is perhaps best known for her work conducting such audits and advising companies on anti-discrimination policies and practices such as creating internal systems for civil rights compliance.