Leila Janah

A social entrepreneur who revolutionized poverty alleviation by linking global tech jobs to underserved communities.

Leila Janah (1982–2020) redefined corporate responsibility through her innovative 'Give Work' model. Born to Indian immigrants in New York, she witnessed extreme poverty during a visit to Mumbai, which inspired her life’s mission. In 2008, she founded Sama Group, a company providing digital training and AI annotation jobs to refugees and low-income workers in Kenya, Uganda, and India.

Her flagship venture, Samasource, partnered with tech giants like Google and Microsoft to outsource data labeling tasks, offering fair wages to over 50,000 people. Janah later launched LXMI, a luxury skincare brand sourcing ingredients from women farmers in East Africa. Her work challenged traditional charity models, emphasizing dignity through employment over aid.

Despite battling rare cancer, Janah advocated for ethical AI and inclusive growth until her death. Her memoir, Give Work, remains a manifesto for socially conscious business. By proving that profit and purpose can coexist, she reshaped how the world tackles poverty.