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Samasource to host Facebook Developer Garages in Ghana, Uganda

November 27, 2008 in Africa, Facebook, Social Enterprise, Technology by leila

Samasource is partnering with the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology and Appfrica, an NGO, to host two more Facebook Garages in Africa. These events help young software and web developers learn how to use their skills to create applications for Facebook, the fourth-most trafficked website in the US.
To learn more:
>> Visit the event pages on [...]

A new look for Samasource

November 20, 2008 in Africa, Outsourcing, Social Enterprise, Technology by leila

Samasource has a spiffy new design!

The new site is parked at www.samasource.com. We’ll keep what’s currently at the .org up as our blog; if you want to stay up to date on Samasource news, please become a fan on Facebook.

Follow-on work with Benetech

November 1, 2008 in Other by leila

We’re happy to report that Samasource’s largest client to date, Palo-Alto based nonprofit Benetech, has awarded a second contract to a Samasource service provider in Nairobi, Preciss International. Preciss is run by two Kenyan women, Mugure Mugo and Ivy Kimani, and employs university students and recent graduates in Nairobi on projects including data entry, transcription, [...]

Samasource wins contract with 750 Industries

October 28, 2008 in Other by leila

Samasource just won another contract, this time for a Kenyan firm called Beeline (www.beeline.co.ke), one of our pilot vendors that specializes in online research, data entry, and digitization. Beeline’s management works with local NGOs to hire youth from slum communities in Nairobi, such as Mathare and Kibera and train them in a variety of business [...]

Samasource wins contract with Bookshare.org

September 9, 2008 in Africa, Nonprofits, Outsourcing, Technology by leila

Last week, Samasource’s brokerage service scored our biggest contract to date– a book validation pilot project with Bookshare.org, one of the many technology-driven projects initiated at Benetech, an award-winning nonprofit based in Palo Alto and led by veteran social entrepreneur Jim Fruchterman. Bookshare provides print disabled people in the US access to over 40,000 books [...]

Socially Responsible Outsourcing Listed as #1 Trend for 2008

July 30, 2008 in Outsourcing, Social Enterprise by dchen1

Like any good manager, CIO Ron Kifer wants to ensure that the outsourcing providers he hires are aligned with his own company’s objectives. Kifer goes beyond asking the typical questions that examine whether the work can be delivered on time and on budget: he looks at social and ethical factors as well. He is one [...]

Samasource Developer Featured in NY Times

July 21, 2008 in Africa, Outsourcing, Social Enterprise, Technology by leila

Wilfred Mworia, a 22 year-old employee of Samasource vendor Verviant in Nairobi, and winner of Samasource’s Facebook Developer Challenge in April, discussed Kenya’s growing technology community in a New York Times article over the weekend. The piece also covers Google’s activities in Kenya and highlights Skunkworks, a local community of software developers.
Check out the full [...]

Rural BPO Drishtee featured on CNN

June 12, 2008 in Africa, Outsourcing, Technology by leila

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYvoHeYe8fk]
One of Samasource’s vendors, rural outsourcing company Drishtee, was featured recently on CNN IBN (CNN’s sister organization in India). Drishtee’s model is intriguing – by linking villages across India in a distributed network, the company can tap thousands of skilled rural workers to scale client projects rapidly. If your enterprise has data entry, transcription, or [...]

Samasource and oDesk raise awareness of socially responsible outsourcing

June 5, 2008 in Other by leila

Samasource has partnered with oDesk, one of the world’s leading online marketplaces for outsourced IT and business process talent, to develop a “responsible outsourcing” awareness campaign targeting over 100,000 buyers and service providers. The campaign will help oDesk users learn about sustainable business practices and the social impact of outsourcing in low-income regions, as well [...]

Samasource wins 2nd place at Stanford Social E Challenge

June 4, 2008 in Other by leila

Many thanks to our supporters and the excellent judging panel of established entrepreneurs and leading thinkers in social enterprise, including Don Baker (Foundation for Sustainable Development), Jon Abrams (CEO and Founder of Socializr and Friendster), Debra Dunn (Stanford d. School), Stephen DeBerry (CIO, Kapor Enterprises), and Gary Palin (Executive Director, NC State University College of [...]