37-year-old CEO Leila Janah has died of epithelioid sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, reports CNN.
The company she founded, Samasource, announced her death late last month. In 2008 she founded her artificial intelligence company in Kenya with the mission of improving the lives of the poor.
The daughter of Indian immigrants grew up in Los Angeles and hails from New York. She also founded LXMI, a fair-trade, organic skin care company; and Samaschool, a non-profit focused on reskilling for the new economy.
“Her commitment to creating a better world was unparalleled,” said a statement issued by Samasource. “The ripple effects of her work will be felt for generations. We are all committed to continuing Leila’s work, and to ensuring her legacy and vision is carried out for years to come.”
“I strongly believe you can combine the highest quality of service with the core mission of altruism,” she said in a recent interview with Tech Crunch.
“A big part of our values is offering living wages and creating dignified technology work for people. We hire people from low-income backgrounds and offer them training in AI and machine learning. And our teams achieve above the industry standard.”
Janah also spoke proudly about her company which also boasts a female COO and a management team that’s 60% women.
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