Danny Glover is advising Airbnb's diversity efforts
An actor might seem an odd choice, but he's been an advocate for years.
When he isn't busy raising awareness for pseudobulbar affect (PBA) and generally being too old for shit, actor Danny Glover will be advising Airbnb. It's part of the push the short-term rental company is making to promote staying in communities of color. He'll be joining the NAACP in Airbnb's work to educate, train and "take advantage of the economic opportunity of hosting" on the service, according to a statement.
While it might seem odd to pull a random celebrity in to help, Glover's history as a philanthropist and activist seem a good fit for what Airbnb is trying to achieve. The company has been aggressively working to rebuild its reputation since early 2016 when stories of hosts rejecting potential guests based on their race started cropping up. Airbnb went as far as taking out an ad during this year's Super Bowl that denounced discrimination and racism.
In early July, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing ordered a host to take an Asian American studies class, fined her $5,000 and banned her from the service wholesale because she canceled a reservation and made racist remarks to a guest.
Since then, Airbnb has announced a partnership with the NAACP that would work to improve its workforce diversity and return 20 percent of rental proceeds to the organization. That's in addition to actively helping people of color renting out their homes or spare rooms.
