Lecturer
Business & Public Policy

Leading expert on urban technology

About

Molly Turner is a leading expert on technology startups and cities. Through her teaching at Haas and her work in the field, she has shaped the contemporary conversation about technology’s impacts on urban life and governance. At Haas, Turner teaches the popular class Tech and the City: How to Get Urban Innovation Right to graduate MBAs. She is also the co-host and co-producer of the podcast Technopolis about how technology is disrupting, remaking, and sometimes overrunning our cities. Turner is deeply engaged in contemporary tech and urban policy issues through her advisory work with city leaders and urban tech startups, as well as 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.

Expertise and Research Interests

  • Urban Innovation
  • Tech Policy
  • Startups
  • Economic Development
  • Tourism Policy
  • Urban Planning