Laila Janah, founder and CEO of Samasource, explains the structural incentives in international aid that cause developing nation governments to focus on donor requirements rather than citizen welfare.
“The great challenge in nonprofits, and you see this in international aid environments, is that, you know, country governments where the budget is largely composed of aid from richer countries are much more accountable to the donors than they are to their own people, which is why we see these really perverse outcomes and scenarios where we think, wow, how is the government of XYZ developing country So bad. Why do they care so little about their people? Well, it's their rational, right?”
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More from Laila Janah
Opinion
Janah: Western 'sweatshop' label overlooks local value of developing-world factory jobs
“What we often would consider a sweatshop here in the West could be what people in a developing country regard as a decent job.”
Laila JanahJan 2, 2019▶ 4:09a16z Podcast | Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Janah: Low-income gig economy workers do not feel exploited by platforms
“I think in that case, it's a little bit different from the factory model you know, or the sweatshop argument, in that people have a lot more choice and agency with smartphones and with more flexible working arrangements that the gig economy allows, and I have …”
Laila JanahJan 2, 2019▶ 5:35a16z Podcast | Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More
Opinion
Janah: A slight corporate tax increase should fund gig worker benefits
“You could increase, this might be unpopular, but you could increase the corporate tax rate by a very small amount, and use that increase to fund, you know, the equivalent of four one K's for those workers, or other types of benefits that are necessary.”
Laila JanahJan 2, 2019▶ 6:24a16z Podcast | Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More
Opinion
Janah: Mark Zuckerberg is not a social entrepreneur despite Facebook's social benefit
“While I don't think that makes Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook co-founders social entrepreneurs, because I don't think they're Our first concern was social justice or improving improving Poverty outcomes, per se, or improving the lives of marginalized people.…”
Laila JanahJan 2, 2019▶ 9:31a16z Podcast | Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More
Insight
Janah: Light-touch coding bootcamps fail to get most graduates jobs
“The feedback we've received is that a lot of people who go through these coding programs, especially if they're light touch, don't actually end up with a job.”
Laila JanahJan 2, 2019▶ 30:28a16z Podcast | Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More
Insight
Janah: True social impact requires embedding good into supply chains, not donations
“One percent for charity kind of programs, so we'll take one percent of profit and we'll give it away, or five percent of profit or we will, for every product you buy, give away one of something else, and while that's certainly an improvement over zero I think …”
Laila JanahJan 2, 2019▶ 2:12a16z Podcast | Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More
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