The Story « Samasource

Our Workers

Vanessa Kanyi
Nairobi, Kenya
Vanessa was one of Samasource’s first workers. Over a few years of excellent performance, she rose through the ranks and now leads one of our elite teams.
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OUR WORKERS Meet a few of our superstars.

Vanessa Kanyi
Nairobi, Kenya

Rakesh Singh
Ranchi, India

Luc Emmanuel
Mirebalais, haiti

Mamta Devi
Tatisilwai, India

“ Samasource has definitely increased my skills and marketability. ”

Starting at Samasource as a part-time worker and University student, Vanessa showed fantastic promise in content generation and a high attention to detail. Over time, she began training local workers and helping with feedback. Now Vanessa manages one of our most complex projects and is in contact with the San Francisco team daily.

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“ I was able to get a very high level of accuracy…and I was really proud of that. ”

From someone who was afraid of computers and worried something would go wrong if he touched them, Rakesh has come a long way. He enjoys his work, and has a strong desire to excel. “With the training and the on-the-job experience that I have received here, I can now dream of making a career for myself.”

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“ Finding a job in Haiti for young Haitians is like crossing the Sahara. ”

After the earthquake, many Haitians were living in shelters. Samasource workers like Luc received messages, translated them from French or Creole into English, putting those in need in contact with aid workers. Now, he works at Samasource and studies chemistry part-time, hoping to become a bio-chemist.

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“ Empowerment is not in books, it is in work. ”

Mamta, an Indian woman in her late twenties, is the primary wage earner in her family. With Samasource training, she performs digital tasks for companies in Silicon Valley. Mamta’s father-in-law now watches her children while she works because he realizes the value of her income.

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Press

RECENT ARTICLES
- Google Gives A Boost To ‘Microwork’ Nonprofit Samasource >>
  DECEMBER 2011
- Workers of the World, Employed >>
  NOVEMBER 2011
- Realizing the Economic Power of Women >>
  OCTOBER 2011
- Big Omaha Backstage Pass – Leila Janah: Being useful in the world >>
  October 12, 2011
- Harvard Business Review on “Hyperspecialization” >>
  July 2011
- Elle Magazine “9 For All Mankind” >>
  June 2011
Our Supporters

Rainer Arnhold Fellowship

HOW WE WORK

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

We invented microwork – a new way to fight poverty by enabling capable, marginalized people to complete digital tasks in some of the world's poorest places. Our model provides direct income to thousands of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional aid programs and equips them with skills to succeed in the new economy.

DELIVERY CENTERS

Samasource maintains sixteen delivery centers in India, Pakistan, Haiti, Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya in partnership with local entrepreneurs. Our centers combine the best in grassroots technology innovation: low-cost computers, redundant power and Internet access, and the SamaHub, our free work platform.

MICROWORK

Our technology breaks down projects into small units of work. Microwork includes tasks like finding a phone number on a business website, tagging an image, or transcribing a business card. After training at local centers, workers submit microwork via the SamaHub for feedback and quality control by our team in San Francisco.