An Interview with Leila Janah of Sama Group at the BSR Conference 2015

At the BSR Conference 2015, we sat down with plenary speakers and sustainability thought leaders to discuss their thoughts on resilience in their organizations and on what defines resilient leadership.

Leila Janah is the CEO of Sama Group, a social entrepreneurship organization that helps people living in poverty enter the economy through training and work doing basic tasks—such as image tagging and data entry—at the bottom of the new digital supply chains.

“For us, resilience is moving people into middle income, where they can afford proper healthcare, education, and other basic human necessities,” said Janah. Through their efforts, Sama Group has been able to lift about 7,000 workers and their families from an income of US$2 a day to US$8 a day.

Janah also underlined that leadership, to her, is challenging assumptions about the way things are and the way things should be, and showing the world what’s possible. By challenging the prevailing notion that charity and business are separate, leaders can create a more resilient future. 

To see more videos from the BSR Conference, visit our YouTube channel.