Airbnb billionaire CEO gives Obama Foundation $100 million in college travel grants
Airbnb CEO Brian Cesky speaks onstage during the “Introducing Travel” opening at Airbnb Open LA.
Billionaire Airbnb Founder and CEO Brian Cesky made his most significant charitable donation. A $100 million pledge to former President Barack Obama and the Michelle Obama Charitable Foundation for initiatives that bridge education and travel. The accountswill be used for grants for students pursuing careers in public service. The Obama Foundation said in a statement Monday. The program, called the Voyager Scholarship. Aims to free students from college debt, enable them to travel and broaden their horizons and provide mentors.
The two-year program offers students up to $25,000 in financial aid for their first and fourth years in college. Recipients will also receive $10,000 and free Airbnb accommodation for a “summer trip. Where students design their work and travel program to “gain access to a new community.”
It doesn’t end there. For a decade after graduation. Airbnb will give students $2,000 a year to travel wherever they want and “make new connections throughout their public service career. The first group of Voyager scientists will include 100 students.
“If we need the next generation of leaders to be able to do what they need to do, they have to meet. You must know each other. In a video announcing the grant, you have to understand each other’s communities,” the former president said.
According to Forbes, $9 billion will be donated to $100 million for a five-year Voyager grant to the Obama Foundation, which will be in charge of the program.