This successful entrepreneur shows doing good is good business.

It’s not all about the money, money, money.

Leila Janah is a modern entrepreneur. Not content with just making money, these new business people also want to make a difference. 

What’s interesting about Leila as an entrepreneur is that she didn’t create one company, but four. Sama Group is her parent company of three social ventures, all focussed on ‘impact sourcing’ – where those who are in need are given work – and the use of technology to pull people out of poverty. 

Leila has put her all into this, too. When she initially started, she would pay herself just $500 a month and had to ask her family to pay her phone bill. "A job is not just income,’’ she told the New York Times, ‘‘It’s dignity, hope, purpose."

Samasource were founded in 2008, and help marginalised women and youths find dignified work via the internet. The company has worked with eBay, TripAdvisor, and ensures that its employees are all paid fair, sustainable wages to help them leave poverty. 

The company has been a huge success, it has paid over 6,800 individuals in the developing world since 2008 to do microwork in data servies, and generated $5.9 million in sales in 2014. 

They are on track to be financially sustainable by 2017. 

Now anyone, anywhere can help a doctor provide crucial medical services to those in need. The site is dedicated to transparent funding for aid workers in impoverished areas. 

Samaschool offers education to low income people, and now includes classes in Kenya. People who take the courses offered by the company are prepared for the digital economy, and have a new skillset to offer to employers in the future. 

For more information on other tech companies that are helping make the world a better place, see the New York Times. 

Source:

• The New York Times