Juniper Downs joins Airbnb as Global Head of Community Policy and Partnerships

We’re announcing today the hire of Juniper Downs as Airbnb’s new Global Head of Community Policy and Partnerships, where she will oversee the team responsible for the rules that govern behavior on the Airbnb platform. Juniper joins us following nine years at Google, where she held roles across Trust and Safety and Public Policy, including serving as Global Director of Policy for YouTube and most recently as the Global Director of Public Affairs, Government Affairs and Public Policy. 

Airbnb is built on trust, and central to that trust are the thoughtful community policies that have been developed and enhanced since the founding of the platform over 12 years ago. Juniper will be entrusted with building and strengthening both these community policies and the global Community Policy team as Airbnb prepares to catalyze the travel revolution.

Community policy development takes on added importance for Airbnb since it supports a two-way marketplace (both Hosts and guests). Airbnb’s policies start with online behavior, such as Airbnb’s privacy policy, as well as our rules aimed at deterring scams and financial fraud. Our policies then extend to offline behavior, such as Airbnb’s global party ban, user dispute resolution, and the company’s prohibition on “Members of dangerous organizations, including terrorist, organized criminal, and violent racist groups.” In recent years, Airbnb’s community policies have also evolved to put public health and COVID-19 safety front and center.

Global partnerships will also fall under Juniper’s purview. Airbnb maintains partnerships with respected advocacy groups and recognized issue experts for some of our safety-specific policies. For example, we partner with the National Network to End Domestic Violence for advice on our domestic violence policy, and we partner with Polaris for advice on our human trafficking policy. 

Airbnb is continuing to invest in recruiting talent to the Trust organization. Juniper is the latest senior addition to Airbnb’s Trust team, reporting to VP Donald Hicks, who joined the company in February. She joins alongside Brendon Lynch, Airbnb’s Chief Privacy Officer, who came to Airbnb last year after serving in a similar capacity at Microsoft. 

While at Google, Juniper led a global team responsible for trust and reputation programs for policymakers. She represented the company in front of policymakers around the world, including providing testimony before the U.S. Congress multiple times. Prior to Google, Juniper worked as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, led the Santa Clara County Counsel Social Justice and Impact Litigation Project, and worked as a teacher in Oakland, CA.