Google has granted, $2 million to Samasource, a non-profit that trains and provides computer-based work to impoverished women and youth with operations in Haiti, India, Kenya and Uganda.
The $2 million Google Global Impact Award will be used to create technology-enabled jobs for thousands of youth and women globally, to enhance Samasource’s robust technology platform, the SamaHub, and to support expansion of the organization’s microwork which gives digital skills and jobs to women and youth for free.
“We are grateful to receive this investment from such a forward thinking and leading organization as Google,” said Leila Janah, founder & CEO of Samasource. “Being able to benefit from Google’s engineering support enables us to effectively and efficiently serve more marginalized women and youth than ever before while also delivering high quality, affordable services to our clients. With this generous support, we will dramatically change the lives of thousands of poor women and youth by providing them with what they want most: fairly-paid work.”
Samasource was founded in 2008 and trains these women and youth to fulfill the digital needs of large global brands such as eBay, Google, and Microsoft. To date, Samasource has connected more than 4,000 marginalized people in Africa, India, Haiti and the U.S. to paying work, totaling over $2 million in wages paid out.
“We are excited about Samasource’s unique combination of technology, operations and mission to help reduce poverty around the world,” said Chris Busselle, principal of Google.org. “We look forward to supporting Samasource’s mission to make an even greater impact on those in need by offering them a sustainable gateway into the digital economy.”
Apart from the $2 million grant, Google is a client of Samasource and provides jobs directly to its teams in Africa.