A year ago today, Airbnb announced a remarkable effort designed to to increase the company’s presence in black neighborhoods: a partnership with the NAACP. By the time the press release hit the wires, the move was a long time coming. Airbnb had been wrestling with how to deal with racial bias on its platform since 2016, when a group of Harvard professors published a paper revealing that guests with traditionally black names found it much harder to book from a host than those with traditionally white names. The paper, along with mounting stories about racist acts, often shared under the hashtag #Airbnbwhileblack, caught the company’s founders off guard.

The stories would be bad for any business, but for Airbnb, which encourages strangers to trust each other enough to share their homes, the publicity was damaging. As CEO Brian Chesky told me in a June 2016 interview, “our mission and inclusion are the same thing. You can’t really separate these two issues.”

The paper, along with mounting stories about racist acts, often shared under the hashtag #Airbnbwhileblack, caught the company’s founders off guard.

Since then, Airbnb has made several changes to its service to reduce discrimination. It now requires travelers to agree to a nondiscrimination policy, and removes those who don’t comply. It added an Open Doors policy that allows guests to report discrimination. While Airbnb investigates these discrimination reports, the company promises to rebook guests in a similar accommodation or at a hotel. it also added instant bookings, which allow travelers to book without being vetted by the host first.

These changes were significant. But what had the potential to transform Airbnb into a business that wasn’t just tough on hatred, but was actively embraced by people of color, was the partnership with the NAACP. If it took hold, Airbnb might achieve much more than simply building its standing among black people: It could dramatically increase the number of listings on its site, at a moment when growth is paramount for the company. By striking a revenue deal with the NAACP, Airbnb gained a motivated partner and advocate in local cities that could help it advance its cause with regulators in coming years.

So to mark the first anniversary of this announcement, I decided to check out how the partnership is going. The answer, in a word, is slowly.

The deal's primary aim was to establish Airbnb outreach initiatives helmed by local NAACP chapters. These chapters would commit to launching grassroots outreach campaigns to educate African Americans about how to become Airbnb hosts. For every new host the NAACP recruits, Airbnb agreed to share 20 percent of its revenue with the nonprofit organization. The NAACP also agreed to help diversify Airbnb’s company staff and contract supplier base.

The agreement would be mutually beneficial. The NAACP saw an opportunity through the partnership to help black households earn extra income, and to earn a small return itself. Airbnb would bring more hosts and guests onto its platform, both combating racism and helping the business grow.

But finding the markets that were both strategic for Airbnb and embedded near strong local NAACP chapters was time-consuming. It took nine months for the partnership’s initial outreach to kick off. The first local rollout took place in May, focusing on Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood and the nearby suburban-feeling city of Miami Gardens. Janaye Ingram, Airbnb’s head of national partnerships, told the local press that the company chose Little Haiti because it was the fastest growing neighborhood for hosts and guests in Miami-Dade County. The event featured testimonials by Airbnb hosts, and also suggested ways that local businesses could take advantage of a growing tourism business in their neighborhoods. The mayor of Miami Gardens, Oliver Gilbert, was there with nearly 100 others on that Saturday afternoon as well.

To keep expanding, tech companies can’t afford to just attract white people—even those companies that consist of white founders and a majority white workforce.

In June, the second partnership went live in Los Angeles with an information session held at the Museum of African American Art that encouraged attendees to “promote travel within communities of color” and “earn extra income.” in attendance were actors Danny Glover, who has signed on to help Airbnb recruit people of color, along with Vivica A. Fox.

Now both local campaigns plan to include phone calls and direct digital outreach. Airbnb has set a goal of contacting more than 50,000 potential hosts in these two markets to encourage them to use the service.