A PORTAL OUT OF POVERTY
That Google+ was a co-sponsor of the Nov. 2 Sam a source Give Work Gala at the Regency Ballroom was a no-brainer.
This digital nonprofit, which utilizes a micro-work model to connect poor people in developing countries to work opportunities via the Internet, was founded by the tech-savvy, social business entrepreneur Leila Janah, who, among many impressive appointments, was previously a visiting scholar with the Stanford Program on Global Justice.
What did surprise us about this elegant, black-tie gala? Not only did all 400 blue jean-loving, hoodie-wearing techies actually dress the part, but Samasource garnered great support from a classic, Old World admirer in the guise of Cartier. Cartier North America President Emmanuel Perrin noted that this 165-yearold French joaillier has always been a design innovator, including the recent Cartier ID Two timepiece. Besides, who doesn’t love seeing the company’s royal red bag on the back of her gala chair?
Co-chaired by Darren Bechtel and his gal, Samantha Duvall, the festive fete featured a dinner program emceed by author Baratunde Thurston and a dance party starring Grammy Awardwinning artist Estelle and DJ Atish. Among the tech titans: Zynga founder Mark Pincus and his wife, Onekingslane co-founder Alison Pincus and his sister, Professor Laura Hartman; Twitter CEO
Dick Costolo; Allison Speer; Wired magazine contributing editor Steven Johnson; Bebo co-founders Xochi and Michael Birch; Google Senior Product
Manager Max Ventilla; and Janah’s fiance, Benjamin Leslie.
A lively live auction of luxe goods (including a first-class trip to Paris for fashion week and a private tour of the Louvre) raised more than $700K in support of Samasource, which has headquarters in San Francisco and Nairobi, Kenya.
In just four years, Samasource has moved 3,200 families out of poverty. Its technology breaks down big data projects from companies into small tasks and trains poor women and youths to complete them at computer centers.
“You can think of it as outsourcing 2.0, as teaching a man to fish and ensuring he has access to a river in the digital age,” Janah said. “The word ‘sama’ means ‘equal’ in Sanskrit. I chose it as our name because I’m an optimist. I really do believe everyone wants to live in a world where all people have an equal chance not just to escape suffering but to achieve their human potential.”
In January, with assistance from the mayor’s office and the California Endowment, Samasource will launch a pilot program in the Bayview district where it hopes this digital river will raise incomes for some of the city’s most marginalized citizens.
“Samasource is the first nonprofit we’ve funded. Leila’s unique approach to using technology caught our attention,” enthused Path co-founder Dave Morin. “She’s using crowdsourcing for good rather than to just make a profit.” Catherine Bigelow is The San Francisco Chronicle’s society correspondent. E-mail: missbigelow@sfgate.com