Preview
  • Give Work

  • Reversing Poverty One Job at a Time
  • By: Leila Janah
  • Narrated by: Leila Janah
  • Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (110 ratings)

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Give Work

By: Leila Janah
Narrated by: Leila Janah
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Publisher's summary

Despite trillions of dollars in Western aid, 2.8 billion people worldwide still struggle to survive every day. We need a better solution. Founder and CEO of Samasource, Leila Janah, shows that poverty is a problem we can solve - not just hope to alleviate - by giving work.

When asked if they'd rather receive aid or work, the world's poorest people will always choose work. But the world's richest countries continue to send aid, targeting the symptoms, not the causes of poverty. Western countries have the best intentions, but charity-based aid often does more harm than good, and billions of people continue to suffer.

According to Leila Janah, giving dignified, steady, fair-wage work is the most effective way to eradicate poverty. Samasource, a nonprofit she founded with the express purpose of outsourcing work from the tech industry to the bottom billions, has provided over $10 million in direct income to tens of thousands of people the world had written off, changing the trajectory of their lives for the better. Janah and her team go into the world's poorest communities - from the refugee camps of Kenya to rural Arkansas to the blighted neighborhoods of California - and train people to do digital work for companies like Google, Walmart, and Microsoft. She is making a real difference, breaking the cycle of poverty at its source.

Picking up where Dambisa Moyo's Dead Aid leaves off, Give Work debunks traditional and cutting-edge aid models and offers much needed solutions. From a school for the blind in Ghana to the World Bank, Janah has tested various Give Work business models in all corners of the world. She shares the poignant stories of many who have benefited from Samasource's work and offers us a blueprint to change the world for good.

We can end extreme poverty. And in Give Work, Janah shows us how. Give work, and you give the poorest people on the planet a chance at happiness. Give work, and you give people the freedom to choose how to develop their own communities. Give work, and you create infinite possibilities.

©2017 Leila Janah (P)2017 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

“An audacious, inspiring, and practical book about how to drive meaningful change. Leila shows how it’s possible to build a successful business that lifts people out of poverty - not by giving them money but by giving them work. It’s required reading for anyone who’s passionate about solving real problems.” (Adam Grant, author of Give and Take and Originals, coauthor [with Sheryl Sandberg] of Option B)

“Living-wage digital work targeted to the world’s poorest people is a transformational force for good. Leila’s pioneering work in this realm is as instructive as it is inspiring. An essential read!” (Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn; coauthor of The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age)

"Leila Janah’s new book is a call to action to focus on the poor not as passive recipients waiting for charity but as full human beings wanting to solve their own problems. She reminds us through powerful examples that we can all do more to enable human flourishing. And so we must.” (Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen)

Featured Article: 35+ Inspirational Entrepreneur Quotes to Kickstart Your Goals


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What listeners say about Give Work

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Top of my list.

I first saw Leila on Marie Forleo and was immediately drawn to what her cause was about. Following that episode I bought the book. Leila did such a great job with the book that you feel like you're on the journey with her. So many great takeaways in the book. This is go to book.

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What an inspiration

I couldn’t stop listening. Leila’s story, the stories of the people she met along the way, and the work she has done all blew me away.

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Inspirational

Loved it, she will be remembered. A life that was lived to the fullest. Give work.

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World Changing Social Impact

I loved it, an inspiring success story about compassion, hustle and drive to transform lives.

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Please read this wonderful book and then change the world !!

This book is totally life changing and a pleasure to read !! What an experience!! I totally recommend it !!

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A true source of inspiration and guidance #Socent

"Give Work" is a masterpiece that should soon become required reading within high schools, colleges and business schools around the world. It is a "must read" for all social entrepreneurs. I first met Leila in 2009 at a conference at MIT, and more recently at an event where she was promoting her book at the Harvard Coop. I could not believe how similar our thinking was the first time I heard her speak. Coming from an underdeveloped country I can attest to how demoralizing it is to have to beg to eat and go to school or say goodbye to your loved ones and your country due to lack of money and opportunities. It is refreshing to see fearless people like Leila who embark on a mission regardless of how big and difficult it might be in order to do the kind of social good that will outlive her for centuries. This book is a great source of inspiration for social entrepreneurs who might be struggling and doubting themselves. It gives mention to a plethora of other authors and the works and lives of individuals whose stories will make you re-think your choices. Women entrepreneurs are often criticized for putting business before motherhood, but what one must understand is that no one asks to be born (at least it is not 100% evident), and that alone is enough of a reason to do with our lives whatever we please, not what society mandates. I love what I do and I OWN my choice to set myself free from expectations... Leila touches every vulnerability we have as social entrepreneurs and that made me feel like I was not alone. The book also made me aware of mistakes and bad habits... Life is good, but through social entrepreneurship, we can make it much better. Let's just do it. Thank you Leila!

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The best book I ever read.

The biggest lost to this world
not to have Leila Janah.
I must say it is one of the SADDEST day of my life.
The most INCREDIBLE AMAZING, TALENTED, LOVING HUMAN BEING can just die just like that. If you want to make a difference in this world you must read this book.
Bless Your Soul My Sister
WE LOVE YOU
NAMASTE 😭🙏

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Amazing and Prophetic!

This book is a must read. What has been done here is a model for how the world needs to work. The accomplishments through Samasource are a proven demonstration of a new way of doing good AND doing business.

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Thankful

The insight and persuasiveness and elegance of Leila Janah in this book is mesmerizing. She pushes all taboos of traditional charity and help to really support people in partnership, not in pity, in hope, not in power, and in love, not in pride. Thankful for the read :)

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Inspirational, touching and addicting

Impontant topic, which was introduced through an interesting story! I loved the book and it made me really want to do my part to fight the extreme poverty and think innovative ways to bring work to all people. The story touched me and made me in tears few times. The narrator had a very pleasant and soothing voice, which I enjoyed to listen.

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