# Leila Janah

> Leila Janah (1982-2020) was an American social entrepreneur and author who founded Samasource, Samaschool and LXMI. Her work sought to connect people in low-income communities with paid work through digital outsourcing, skills training and consumer supply chains. She received the 2014 Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment and published Give Work in 2017.

- **Role:** Social entrepreneur, company founder and author
- **Organizations:** Samasource (now Sama), Samaschool, LXMI, Sama Group, Katzenbach Partners, World Bank Development Research Group, CARE USA, TechSoup Global
- **From:** Lewiston, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** California Academy of Mathematics and Science, BA in development studies, Harvard University
- **Known for:** 2014 Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment., World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, class of 2013., Author of Give Work: Reversing Poverty One Job at a Time (2017).

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Spent six months teaching English in Ghana after finishing high school early.
- **2004** — Graduated from Harvard and entered management consulting at Katzenbach Partners.
- **2007** — Became a visiting scholar with Stanford’s Program on Global Justice.
- **2008** — Founded Samasource; secured an initial $30,000 Bookshare contract.
- **2013** — Launched Samaschool and was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
- **2014** — Received the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment.
- **2015** — Founded LXMI, extending her sourcing approach to skincare ingredients.
- **2017** — Published Give Work: Reversing Poverty One Job at a Time on September 26.
- **2018** — Launched the Give Work Challenge with Tassilo Festetics.
- **2019** — Samasource adopted a hybrid ownership model and closed a $14.8 million Series A.
- **2020** — Died on January 24; the original nonprofit was renamed the Leila Janah Foundation.

## Achievements

- 2014 Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment.
- World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, class of 2013.
- Author of Give Work: Reversing Poverty One Job at a Time (2017).
- Founded enterprises applying impact sourcing to digital services and consumer supply chains.

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Sama’s June 26 impact-report announcement described continued Give Work Challenge grants through the Leila Janah Foundation; this is an organizational legacy update.
- **—** — Sama launched the Leila Janah Awards; its 2024 impact report says 16 employees received awards that year.

## Links

- Website: https://www.leilajanah.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leilajanah
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/leila_c
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leilajanah/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leilajanah

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/leila-janah
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23