CEO of Airbnb Brian Chesky introduced the Airbnb Host Endowment this week in a bid to offer support for the company's host community.
In a letter to hosts on the platform, Chesky said: “We plan to seed the endowment with 9.2 million shares from Airbnb. We will start to invest the endowment in the host community once the value of the endowment exceeds $1-billion.
“The endowment will provide support in areas including education, financial resources, and much more. With the Airbnb Host Endowment, we want you to share in our success – not merely at a single moment in time, but for as long as Airbnb exists,” he told the host on the platform.
Chesky revealed that funds from the endowment will be allocated by Airbnb, with input from hosts.
“We are creating the Airbnb Host Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will present ideas from the host community for how the endowment is invested and will suggest improvements for how to make Airbnb better. This means input from you will go directly to our leadership team when they make funding decisions. In addition, the Advisory Board will meet with Airbnb every month and share regular updates from these meetings back to you.
“The Host Advisory Board will be as diverse as the host community itself – 85 percent of you live outside of the US, and 55 percent of you are women. We will introduce members of the Advisory Board before the end of this year,” he revealed.