Molly Turner

Molly Turner is a leading expert on technology startups and cities. She has been on the professional faculty at the Berkeley Haas School of Business for eight years, where she teaches graduate MBAs and undergraduate business students about tech startups, cities, and public policy. Turner also works as an advisor to early-stage urban tech startups and to city leaders looking to harness new technology. She is deeply engaged in contemporary tech and urban policy issues as the co-host of the Technopolis podcast, and through her service on the boards of urban policy think tank SPUR, and non-profit affordable housing developer BRIDGE Housing.

Before teaching at Haas, Turner was an early employee of Airbnb, where she established the company’s public policy team in 2011 and directed its groundbreaking regulatory collaboration with cities. She later served as the company’s Global Head of Civic Partnerships, where she directed Airbnb’s partnerships with governments, including its international disaster response program, which has housed hundreds of thousands of displaced people and refugees. Before Airbnb, Turner worked for the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, the UNESCO World Heritage Cities Program, and an urban planning consulting firm. Turner holds a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University and a BA from Dartmouth College.