Who was Leila Janah, the Robin Hood of entrepreneurship?

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Leila Janah was a successful social entrepreneur, adventurist, and founder of Samasource, Samaschool, and a skincare brand LXMI. She tragically passed away aged 37 in January 2020, after suffering from a rare form of soft-tissue cancer called epithelioid sarcoma (ES).

Her most eminent business, Samasource, continues to bring work to the poorest and most unfortunate people on this planet, as Ms Janah’s team strives to keep her legacy alive and is working with determination to assist those born in third world countries.

Even though Ms Janah had her life cut short too soon, she made her dreams come true in the form of several notable projects that helped more than 50,000 individuals in India, East Africa, Uganda, and other developing nations.

Where did Ms Janah grow up and study?

Ms Janah knew what it meant to be poor from a young age. Being a child of Indian immigrants that emigrated to the US, the whole family faced financial difficulties and uncertainty during Ms Janah’s school days.

She was born in the state of New York but grew up in the Los Angeles suburbia. Ms Janah received a six-month scholarship during college days, which allowed her to teach English in Ghana.

As a part of the California Academy of Mathematics and Science’s project (Ms Janah’s school), Ms Janah witnessed the unfortunate plight of the people living in geographically isolated areas of the world. After recognising the potential of the poor, Ms Janah’s life changed forever, creating a fantasy of giving work to those very people who did not have opportunities in their own countries.

What was Ms Janah’s vision?

Ms Janah spent enough time in Ghana and India to see that the individuals living there share the same talents as those living in developed countries but don’t get the same treatment in terms of economy and job opportunities.

For that reason, Ms Janah thought of an idea to bring work to the slums, as most individuals living there could not afford to commute to bigger towns. That very moment sparked frustration in Ms Janah due to the regressive approach of relieving poverty.

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She believed that underprivileged individuals who did seek education were not taught necessary skills for broader usage, but instead gained unnecessary abilities that were not needed in the overall workforce.

When did Ms Janah start Samasource?

After seeing how extreme poverty looks like face-to-face, Ms Janah founded Samasource in 2008, intending to help people out of financial scarcity.

Ms Janah realised that Samasource could train people for technology-related skills that are in high demand in fortunate states. At first, the firm started as a not-for-profit entity but turned to a for-profit business after showing vast promise.

In its initial days, Samasource provided jobs for individuals that helped with data entry, data transcription, and sentiment analysis. Today, Samasource has numerous partners from the Fortune 100 list of businesses, delivering AI tech mostly from East Africa.

The company landed 5,000 job opportunities for persons that barely had any money to survive by 2013, while 50,000 individuals are currently estimated to have escaped poverty since the launch of Samasource.

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What are other thriving missions founded by Ms Janah?

In 2013, Ms Janah started Samaschool, a business based in San Francisco. With Samaschool, Ms Janah wanted to bring useful skills to low-income residents, ultimately preparing them for work.

The school taught necessary expertise for digital-oriented jobs that are continuously desired in first-world countries.

A couple of years later, Ms Janah embarked on another adventure and started a skincare company LXMI, manufacturing luxurious organic skincare from natural ingredients.

The beauty company focused on deriving rare ingredients from Africa and India, which are unique in that context. LXMI provided hundreds of jobs to ill-fated women that helped with harvesting plant components.

How did Ms Janah’s last months look like?

Even though Ms Janah suffered from one of the rarest forms of cancer, she did not give up on life until her last breath.

When her days were numbered, Ms Janah was committed to finding preventative treatments for epithelioid sarcoma, investing a portion of her wealth to the Research to the People initiative.

Ms Janah provided multiple samples of her ill tissue to investigate it to the fullest. A group of scientists are still discovering extraordinary findings due to Ms Janah’s contribution.

On 24 January, Ms Janah sadly passed away, leaving her husband, stepdaughter, and loving friends behind. Her business empires are still providing job opportunities for those who were not as lucky to be born in the US and other fortunate nations, and hence keeping Ms Janah’s legacy alive.