Leila Janah, a social entrepreneur who was on a mission to end global poverty dies at 37

Leila Janah, a social entrepreneur who was on a mission to end global poverty died on January 24 in a hospital in Manhattan. She died from complications of epithelioid sarcoma. She was 37. 

She was the founder of Samasource, an artificial intelligence company which employs nearly 3,000 people in Kenya, Uganda and India. She believed that the intellect of the poorest people in the world was an untapped source in the global economy. 

Leila was also the founder and CEO of LXMI, a fair-trade, organic skin care company, and Samaschool, a nonprofit organisation that trains people in digital skills, according to Samasource. The luxury cosmetic brand that she started also employed marginalised people and gave them a decent wage. She started the company in 2015 after she saw local people harvesting local nuts in Benin.

It employs hundreds of poor women along the Nile River Valley, largely in Uganda, to harvest Nilotica nuts and turn them into a butter that is exported to the United States for use in the production of its skin-care products. The company has hired more people from other African countries and in India to harvest other ingredients for its products.

According to Samasource, at least half the people hired by the company are women. Its employees have worked under contracts with companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Walmart, Getty Images, Glassdoor and Vulcan Capital. According to the company’s website, it is one of the largest employers in East Africa and has helped more than 50,000 people lift themselves out of poverty. 

In a Facebook post in November, she opened up about her battle with cancer. She wrote, "Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare, strange beast. As it moves through my body, I'm trying to understand what it could possibly teach me. My biggest lesson is awe: I'm awe-struck by the complexity of human biology, and equally by the almost mystical power of human connection and love flowing my way."

Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare, slow-growing type of soft tissue cancer and typically starts as a painless bump. 

She was born to Indian immigrant parents, Sahadev Chirayath and Martine Janah in 1982 in Lewiston, New York, near Niagara Falls. She is survived by her parents, her husband Tassilo Festetics; her parents; a brother, Ved; and her stepdaughter. 

(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)

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