Airbnb Taps Longtime Obama Staffer

Airbnb has tapped Crystal Brown as its new Director of Policy Initiatives. The former Obama administration appointee was most recently a Counselor and Senior Policy Advisor reporting directly to the Chief Legal Officer of the White House Office of Management and Budget, where she counseled staff, advised WH senior advisors, and ran cross-agency issue resolution processes to implement presidential initiatives. She also served as Senior Director in the WH Office of Cabinet Affairs, where she worked with chiefs of staff from key agencies on operations, policy, and communications coordination, including the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. Before that, the Duke University and Temple Law School graduate served as a top advisor to the DOJ’s Deputy Attorney General, functioning as the Chief Operating Officer. Her tenure in the Obama administration began as a WH lawyer vetting potential candidates for key posts requiring Senate confirmation. Before that, the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. member worked on the 2008 Obama for America presidential campaign, was a litigator at an international law firm in NYC, and clerked for a federal judge in Philadelphia. Her new job has taken her to San Francisco, where she officially starts today with the online marketplace and hospitality service. Congrats, Crystal! More about her here.