This week, members of the Airbnb team will be in Washington for the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Winter meeting, where we will discuss how home sharing helps families make ends meet and delivers more tax revenue to cities.

The meeting is one part of our ongoing effort to work collaboratively with elected officials and we've assembled a talented roster of political veterans ­­ many of whom have worked at the highest levels in Washington ­­ and are now working across the country to support middle class families who share their home.

The team is led by Chris Lehane.

Airbnb Public Policy New additions to the Public Policy team include:

Sarah Bianchi Sarah Bianchi is Head of Global Policy Development and Head of Federal Policy. Previously, she served as a Managing Director in the Financial Markets Advisory group at BlackRock, where she launched the group's Washington DC office. Prior to her time at BlackRock, she served as Deputy Assistant to President Obama for Economic Policy and Director of Economic and Domestic Policy for Vice President Biden where she worked on a broad range of issues from housing to health care to taxes and helped lead the White House efforts on projects including the 2012 State of the Union to gun safety and Vice President Biden’s debate ​ ​ ​ ​ prep.

Patrick Hannan Patrick Hannan is the San Francisco Public Policy Lead. Patrick began his career in the U.S. Senate as a press aide to Carol Moseley­Braun of Illinois before returning to the Bay Area to work on local issues and political campaigns. He later spent a decade managing a $50 million public private partnership to improve San Francisco parks on behalf of the Fisher family before joining the No on Proposition F team as the campaign manager last Fall.

Michael O'Neil Michael O'Neil is the Midwestern Public Policy Lead. From 2007­2014, O'Neil worked for President Obama, starting as a member of the Obama for America Exploratory Committee and ending as a Special Assistant to the President & Advisor for the Office of Political Strategy & Outreach.

Laura Spanjian ​ Laura Spanjian is the Public Policy Lead for the Southwest and manages Airbnb's work to make home ​ ​ sharing more environmentally sustainable. Laura joins Airbnb from the City of Houston Mayor’s Office, where she was the Director of Sustainability for six years. Laura previously lived and worked in San Francisco for 15 years where she held policy positions with the SF Board of Supervisors, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) and the SF Public Utilities Commission.

Other key members of the Public Policy Team include:

● Esete Assefa. Esete was promoted and now serves as the Campaign Manager for all campaigns ​ in the United States, Canada, Central and South America. Assefa has previously held positions with the DCCC, the California Democratic Party and 50+1 Strategies. ​ ● Luis Hernandez. Luis was promoted and now serves as the Eastern Regional Campaign ​ Manager. Hernandez served as a Field Director for Organizing for America and is a veteran of Mayor DeBlasio's successful Mayoral campaign. ● Megan Simpson. Megan serves as the Western Regional Campaign Manager and held roles in ​ President Obama's successful 2008 campaign in Iowa and with Senators Tester and Begich. ● Clark Stevens. Clark leads the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Public Engagement and ​ previously served at the Department of Homeland Security and the White House.

Airbnb also works closely with Vin Weber and Steve Schmidt who provide strategic counsel regarding Airbnb’s work in Washington and in key markets across the country.

Communications Kim Rubey leads our Global Communications team and is a veteran of Yahoo, eBay, Senator Edwards' ​ 2004 campaign, the DCCC and the Clinton Administration. New additions to the Communications team ​ ​ include:

Casey Aden­Wansbury Casey Aden­Wansbury oversees the creation and implementation of the communications strategy for ​ Airbnb’s public policy campaigns in key global markets. Casey most recently served as Chief of Staff and ​ primary political advisor to U.S. Senator Al Franken throughout his first term, leading up through his 10­point re­election victory in 2014.

Theo Yedinsky Theo Yedinsky is responsible for all the digital communications in support of Airbnb’s legislative and ​ advocacy efforts. Yedinsky previously founded and for the past six years, managed Social Stream Media a ​ ​ ​ ​ social media and political strategy firm whose clients included Governor Maggie Hassan (NH), The GAP, and Tom Steyer's NextGen Climate action.

Other key members of the communications team include Alison Schumer and Christopher Nulty. Alison ​ ​ ​ ​ manages public affairs communications in the Western United States and joined Airbnb after holding positions at Facebook and Instagram. Christopher manages public affairs communications in the Eastern United States and started his career with SEIU.