Upwork Announces Contribution to Support Airbnb.org’s Efforts to Provide Housing Relief to Refugees

Upwork donates $100,000 in services to help Airbnb.org maximize its impact with access to highly-skilled professionals

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Upwork, the world’s work marketplace, today announced a donation of $100,000 in talent credits to Airbnb.org, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Upwork’s highly-skilled professionals will use their expertise to help power Airbnb.org’s efforts to provide free temporary housing to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, and asylum seekers – including its most recent commitment to help up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine as a result of the ongoing war.

With a network of independent professionals located in more than 180 countries offering expertise across more than 10,000 skills, Upwork’s grant will connect Airbnb.org with freelance talent who can be hired remotely and immediately to help meet a number of needs, including creative design and NGO partner support, to scale its humanitarian initiatives.

“Since the war in Ukraine began, it has been critical for us to apply our resources to help support businesses and independent professionals during this time while also supporting our mission of creating economic opportunities so people have better lives,” said Margaret Lilani, vice president of talent solutions at Upwork. “We are proud to help Airbnb.org, a like-minded organization, find ways to support communities when they are most in need.”

“Upwork brings more to the table than just a monetary donation. Access to the network of highly skilled professionals across the Upwork marketplace will help increase our impact during this critical time and allow us to support those who have lost so much and are working to rebuild their lives,” said Katherine Woo, Head of Airbnb.org.

The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host on Airbnb named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This marked the beginning of a program that allows hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. In the past year, Airbnb.org announced it would offer free temporary housing to refugees fleeing Afghanistan and Ukraine. In February, the organization announced it has provided housing to more than 21,000 Afghan refugees, and it set a new goal of providing free, temporary housing to another 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and other regions. Airbnb.org’s offer to provide housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine is in addition to this broader effort, and to date it has helped connect more than 25,000 people to temporary stays.

About Upwork

Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $3.3 billion on Upwork in 2021 across more than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app development, creative & design, customer support, finance & accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at upwork.com and join us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

About Airbnb.org

Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.'s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org’s charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.