WWW.IDAIRELAN.COM


of the


categories. I am the


sponsor of


Pridebox Dublin and it has been eye-opening to understand someone else’s perspective.


TRANSFORMING SOCIETY In the Irish context, diversity and inclusion is transforming our society. One part of that for me is working with and helping women early in their career to be able to speak up. I do one-to-one mentoring and support, speaking engagements...anything that


keeps the


conversation going is a high priority for me. Over the last 10 years, I have seen great


efforts across Ireland to build networks and platforms and forums for diversity. I have been part of the Connecting Women in Technology initiative, I am an ambassador for Women Mean Business. I see really strong role models across the industry like Anne O’Leary, Louise Phelan of PayPal, Cathriona Hallahan of Microsoft Ireland, and I have been mentored by some of them. I think Ireland is really punching above its


weight. I’m seeing really passionate efforts from a societal perspective such as women in technology encouraging girls to get


into


STEM subjects, CoderDojo, I Wish (focused on secondary level girls) and Plan Ireland International’s Day of the Girl–all of these things are about driving the conversation, not just when women get into the workplace, but much earlier. We are close to where it needs to go.


MILLENNIAL INFLUENCE The fact that we are having the conversation, that it is more and more mainstream and accepted as something we need to do better at, is fantastic. But when I retire, what would make me to have a work environment,


happy is


irrespective of industry or organisation, that is really and truly diverse and inclusive, whether it


is celebrated and encouraged, not


is gender, race or culture that an


afterthought or a number we have to track, but where people look to see what perspectives are we missing from this table and how do we get that into the room. Millennials are


influence that. They prioritise working in companies that


are


already helping to innovative, mission


driven and allow them the freedom to have a life, and work as part of that life. I think we are already responding to millennials in the workplace and when I see Generation Z, I think it is only going to double down and continue to push that agenda.


Airbnb are rigorous, thoughtful, talented, true to themselves, and, above all, dedicated to the spirit of inclusion upon which we have built our platform.


DOUBLING THE NUMBERS We’re proud to support women worldwide by providing a platform for entrepreneurship; whether that’s in our workplace or Airbnb’s global community. For the first six months of 2016, we brought


together sourcers,


recruiters, and hiring managers to source women in tech as well as engineers from under-represented backgrounds. Since then, we have nearly doubled the number of women in technical roles.


Aisling Hassell


HEAD OF GLOBAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AIRBNB AND SITE LEAD, AIRBNB DUBLIN


Aisling Hassell is the Head of Global Customer Experience, Airbnb and Site Lead, Airbnb in Dublin


and is responsible for Airbnb’s


customer experience operations globally. She leads a team focused on supporting every element of the guest and host experience on Airbnb. She also heads Airbnb’s Dublin office, its largest base outside of the US. Prior to joining Airbnb, Aisling was Director of Global Customer Experience and Web Strategy at Sage. She has also held senior customer experience


roles at both Vodafone and Symantec in Europe and the United States.


At Airbnb, we want to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, at a time when it


seems that so much global attention is


focused on what divides us and makes us different. One of the most important things we do in the workplace is to recruit, retain and develop a diverse population of employees. We made a conscious decision to change our recruiting and hiring models to establish a more


diverse workforce. Last year, we


increased women in leadership by 83 per cent and our population of African-American and Latinx employees increased by more than 40 per cent. Nearly 100 per cent of all employees have


received enhanced training on how to identify and combat bias and discrimination. These efforts ensure that the people who succeed at


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THE COMPANY YOU KEEP We all should feel a responsibility for driving diversity and inclusion. I completed my education at United World College of the Atlantic in Wales. The goal of these schools is to break down barriers by educating together people of different nations and backgrounds. It’s an ethos that I have carried through to my professional career. At the beginning of my career I wish I’d


known perhaps how important it is to network and to grow your knowledge by meeting and talking to people in your network. I joined professional networking groups rather late in my career, but in hindsight it would really have helped me early on. You are the company you keep so challenge yourself to be surrounded by people you can learn from and who will support you.


DRIVING FORCE We’re continually inspired by many of the women hosts who have used Airbnb to change their lives through hospitality, earn money, and reach their goals. More than half of hosts on Airbnb around the world are women, and since Airbnb’s founding, women hosts have earned over US$10 billion. Women hosts make up 60 per cent of hosts in Ireland and benefited from a total income of over €54 million last year after listing their spare rooms and entire homes on the platform. Clearly, women are a driving force of Airbnb’s community, both in Ireland and across the world. I’m inspired by the current batch of women


tech entrepreneurs, like Gráinne Barron of Viddyad and Vanessa Tierney of Abodoo. They are both super, strong women who are ploughing a tough path in getting new businesses off the ground.


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