Our History
2008
Leila Janah founds Sama, a nonprofit that hires low-income people in Kenya & Uganda to train AI datasets.
2018
Sama reaches 50,000 people employed.
Leila Janah launches the inaugural Give Work Challenge with her husband Tassilo Festetics.
2019
Sama spins out its business unit as a for-profit entity, the nonprofit entity focuses on growing the Give Work Challenge.
2021
The Leila Janah Foundation expands the Give Work Challenge to run two competitions per year.
2020
The nonprofit entity is renamed the Leila Janah Foundation to honor Leila's passing from a rare form of cancer.
Honoring Leila’s Legacy
Leila Janah was the founder of Sama, a leading AI data company, who passed away from a rare form of cancer in 2020.
Today, the Leila Janah Foundation is continuing Leila's work to create a ripple effect of entrepreneurship throughout East Africa.
Value One
Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
Value One
Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
Value One
Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
Our Values
Team
Wendy Gonzalez
Director
Tassilo Festetics
Director
Liliosa Mbirimi
Program Director
Wendy Gonzalez
CEO at Sama
Johann Schleier-Smith
Founder at if(we)
Tassilo Festetics
General Partner at ZX Ventures
Ben Parr
Co-Founder at Octane.ai
Lloyd Taylor
COO at Alembic Technologies
Board of Directors
Our Mission & Team
Our mission is to honor Leila Janah's legacy by supporting entrepreneurs in Kenya and Uganda.
