"Exhibiting You" - Story

Leila Janah


By:
Submitted: 08/28/2011

Curator Selections

Women Who Light the Dark

Paola Gianturco's photo series on the Barefoot College in India documents women from Africa learning electrician skills from Indian women. These skills are portable--the African women take them back to their remote villages, equipped to provide for themselves. I like the premise of the Barefoot College--that the world's poorest women, so often written off entirely, have tremendous value to offer if we can only find effective ways to tap their knowledge and share it.

Insanity, Entrepreneurship and A World Of Good

Entrepreneur and friend Priya Haji co-founded World of Good, a socially conscious business that sells crafts and textiles made by women who live in impoverished countries. The aim of the organization is to promote economic equality in communities that have traditionally been economically exploited.

The Women of Guanyun county

On the other end of the spectrum, we have this photo series from M. Scott Brauer which depicts an economically depressed region in China. The lack of social welfare programs, along with long-standing gender inequality, has created a difficult life for the women of Guanyan County.

The Financial Crisis and Social Mobility

In this short video, two young women from different backgrounds are able to work toward similar goals rather than be constrained by financial class, thanks to Denmark’s government-subsidized education. It’s an example of how policy can, in some instances, help level the playing field.

Can "Nice Girls" Negotiate?

This essay by investment banker Whitney Johnson sheds light on the fact that in corporate America, women are often shunned for negotiating, while men are looked at as being proactive and powerful.

Women Working for Women

Artist María Acha Rodríguez created this beautiful series of public art murals honoring women in Mexico who fought for women’s rights and paved the way for the freedoms women have now.

Political Firsts: American Women, At a Glimpse

This timeline represents the women who were political pioneers in the US, infiltrating male-dominated political society. It highlights how far women have come towards gender equality in American politics and society as a whole, and how much more we need to achieve.

Political Art in the Female Form

Anahi DeCanio’s art installations use collage and the female form to represent women’s inequality in democracy, peace, and human rights, and pays homage to inspirational women such as Rosa Parks.

A Post-Soviet Story

Mielnikiewicz’s heartbreaking photo documentary depicts a young mother’s struggles with poverty and economic instability after the fall of communism.

Go Women

This series of mixed media digital collages by artist Tammy Mike Laufer uses Hebrew text from Israel's legislation calling for gender equality in employment--creative and subversive all at once.

About Leila Janah

Leila Chirayath Janah is the founder of Samasource, an award-winning social business that connects people living in poverty to microwork--small, computer-based tasks that build skills and generate life-changing income. Leila is a frequent speaker on social entrepreneurship and technology, and her work has been profiled by CBS, CNN, NPR, the BBC, The New York Times, and The New Scientist. She serves on the board of the non-profit TechSoup Global and as an advisor to mobile shopping app Spreetales. She received the World Technology Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2010, and in 2009 was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Women in Tech.

Prior to Samasource, Leila was a founding Director of Incentives for Global Health, an initiative to increase research and development spending on diseases of the poor, and a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners (now Booz & Co.). She has also worked at the World Bank and as a travel writer for Let’s Go in Mozambique, Brazil, and Borneo.

Leila was a Visiting Scholar with the Stanford Program on Global Justice and Australian National University’s Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. She received a BA from Harvard and lives in San Francisco.


Get to Know Leila Janah

Learn more about Leila Janah and why she's involved in IMOW's Curating Change.

  • IMOW matters to me because…Women are the world's silent majority. We do not, for the most part, start wars and hoard resources. We are ninety percent less likely to commit homicide than men. UNIFEM reports that women perform 66 percent of the world’s work and produce 50 percent of the food. However, we earn 10 percent of the world's income and own 1 percent of the property. Our wages are roughly 17% lower than men's. Something has to change, and soon.

  • A mantra to live by… I love this quote from the late historian Howard Zinn:
    “ To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness.

    What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

    And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. ”

  • People Don’t Know That… I love everything about boxing.

Take Action

Learn which causes and organizations matter most to Leila Janah and how you can connect with them.

Samasource

Samasource embodies my core values in its people, processes, and vision, and I'm honored to still have a job as the company's CEO.

Equal Justice Initiative

Bryan Stevenson, EJI's founder, has dedicated his life to reforming the criminal justice system and abolishing the death penalty, a stain on the American conscience. And he's set up his organization in the heart of Alabama, where he feels change is most needed. The United States has the highest per-capita rate of incarceration in the world, and a prison system that is ruled by the profit motive, rather than by a desire to rehabilitate the 700,000 people who now reside in jail. This is not an easy battle. Stevenson is an inspiration to every social entrepreneur, in every sector.

Teach for India

TFI is brilliant for so many reasons. Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America and the inspiration for so much educational innovation in our country, figured out how to replicate her success under the purview of an organization called "Teach for All." And within a short time, the replication is already happening. I visited Kolkata last week and learned that my young cousin Malini is now teaching through this program in South Asia's largest slum, Dharavi, in the heart of Mumbai. I am proud to see my ancestral homeland adopt and scale this model to meet the needs of hundreds of millions of children who do not have an equal opportunity.

 

RETURN TO CURATING CHANGE >>

Leila Janah


By:
Submitted: 12/31/1969

Curator Selections

Women Who Light the Dark

Paola Gianturco's photo series on the Barefoot College in India documents women from Africa learning electrician skills from Indian women. These skills are portable--the African women take them back to their remote villages, equipped to provide for themselves. I like the premise of the Barefoot College--that the world's poorest women, so often written off entirely, have tremendous value to offer if we can only find effective ways to tap their knowledge and share it.

Insanity, Entrepreneurship and A World Of Good

Entrepreneur and friend Priya Haji co-founded World of Good, a socially conscious business that sells crafts and textiles made by women who live in impoverished countries. The aim of the organization is to promote economic equality in communities that have traditionally been economically exploited.

The Women of Guanyun county

On the other end of the spectrum, we have this photo series from M. Scott Brauer which depicts an economically depressed region in China. The lack of social welfare programs, along with long-standing gender inequality, has created a difficult life for the women of Guanyan County.

The Financial Crisis and Social Mobility

In this short video, two young women from different backgrounds are able to work toward similar goals rather than be constrained by financial class, thanks to Denmark’s government-subsidized education. It’s an example of how policy can, in some instances, help level the playing field.

Can "Nice Girls" Negotiate?

This essay by investment banker Whitney Johnson sheds light on the fact that in corporate America, women are often shunned for negotiating, while men are looked at as being proactive and powerful.

Women Working for Women

Artist María Acha Rodríguez created this beautiful series of public art murals honoring women in Mexico who fought for women’s rights and paved the way for the freedoms women have now.

Political Firsts: American Women, At a Glimpse

This timeline represents the women who were political pioneers in the US, infiltrating male-dominated political society. It highlights how far women have come towards gender equality in American politics and society as a whole, and how much more we need to achieve.

Political Art in the Female Form

Anahi DeCanio’s art installations use collage and the female form to represent women’s inequality in democracy, peace, and human rights, and pays homage to inspirational women such as Rosa Parks.

A Post-Soviet Story

Mielnikiewicz’s heartbreaking photo documentary depicts a young mother’s struggles with poverty and economic instability after the fall of communism.

Go Women

This series of mixed media digital collages by artist Tammy Mike Laufer uses Hebrew text from Israel's legislation calling for gender equality in employment--creative and subversive all at once.

About Leila Janah

Leila Chirayath Janah is the founder of Samasource, an award-winning social business that connects people living in poverty to microwork--small, computer-based tasks that build skills and generate life-changing income. Leila is a frequent speaker on social entrepreneurship and technology, and her work has been profiled by CBS, CNN, NPR, the BBC, The New York Times, and The New Scientist. She serves on the board of the non-profit TechSoup Global and as an advisor to mobile shopping app Spreetales. She received the World Technology Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2010, and in 2009 was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Women in Tech.

Prior to Samasource, Leila was a founding Director of Incentives for Global Health, an initiative to increase research and development spending on diseases of the poor, and a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners (now Booz & Co.). She has also worked at the World Bank and as a travel writer for Let’s Go in Mozambique, Brazil, and Borneo.

Leila was a Visiting Scholar with the Stanford Program on Global Justice and Australian National University’s Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. She received a BA from Harvard and lives in San Francisco.


Get to Know Leila Janah

Learn more about Leila Janah and why she's involved in IMOW's Curating Change.

  • IMOW matters to me because…Women are the world's silent majority. We do not, for the most part, start wars and hoard resources. We are ninety percent less likely to commit homicide than men. UNIFEM reports that women perform 66 percent of the world’s work and produce 50 percent of the food. However, we earn 10 percent of the world's income and own 1 percent of the property. Our wages are roughly 17% lower than men's. Something has to change, and soon.

  • A mantra to live by… I love this quote from the late historian Howard Zinn:
    “ To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness.

    What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

    And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. ”

  • People Don’t Know That… I love everything about boxing.

Take Action

Learn which causes and organizations matter most to Leila Janah and how you can connect with them.

Samasource

Samasource embodies my core values in its people, processes, and vision, and I'm honored to still have a job as the company's CEO.

Equal Justice Initiative

Bryan Stevenson, EJI's founder, has dedicated his life to reforming the criminal justice system and abolishing the death penalty, a stain on the American conscience. And he's set up his organization in the heart of Alabama, where he feels change is most needed. The United States has the highest per-capita rate of incarceration in the world, and a prison system that is ruled by the profit motive, rather than by a desire to rehabilitate the 700,000 people who now reside in jail. This is not an easy battle. Stevenson is an inspiration to every social entrepreneur, in every sector.

Teach for India

TFI is brilliant for so many reasons. Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America and the inspiration for so much educational innovation in our country, figured out how to replicate her success under the purview of an organization called "Teach for All." And within a short time, the replication is already happening. I visited Kolkata last week and learned that my young cousin Malini is now teaching through this program in South Asia's largest slum, Dharavi, in the heart of Mumbai. I am proud to see my ancestral homeland adopt and scale this model to meet the needs of hundreds of millions of children who do not have an equal opportunity.

 

RETURN TO CURATING CHANGE >>

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