Sama reviews

The concerns raised by this former employee include unsubstantiated and libelous claims of financial misdealings. As CFO of Sama Group I am well positioned to respond with facts to each one of these: First, Samasource is unique for non-profit it that it has an earned revenue business that generates unrestricted funding. Our organization uses these unrestricted funds for projects that we feel are imparative in furthering our mission; including funding consumer outreach and donor events of which the Samabus is a key component. We also receive donations and grants for specific programs and purposes; we clearly segregate, account and disburse these amounts for the exact purpose they were intended and report this activity rigorously and frequently. We are subject to external audits at least annually, from both a certified public accounting firm and our grantors to ensure expenditures are appropriately accounted for and the records show we have never had anything but an "unqualification opinion" (clean bill of accounting health) from our audits. Second, the Laxmi cosmetics line is run by a subsidiary for-profit public benefit company with a mission aligned purpose, that has been entirely financed by private 3rd party investors. Sama contributed nothing save negligible legal fees for its ownership stake, and stands to gain access to more unrestricted funds with future success of this venture. Third, every penny of the funds raised for SamaHope at the Gala was distributed to the doctors named within weeks of the 2014 Gala and the doctors in turn were able to perform the lifesaving surgeries and treatments on hundreds of patients. The CEO does not use company funds for personal expenses - she is a well known and extremely sought after public speaker and has a signficant social media presence but that does not imply the company is paying for her personal activities. Our organization holds transparency and accountability in the highest regard; we invite this commentor to seek substantiation of these claims beyond speculation towards a public retraction of these comments.

I'm so sorry you had this experience working at Sama. We are trying hard to improve. Some of the issues you raise are tough for all non-profits. Sama actually ranks above the 80th percentile for compensation in the non-profit sector, partly due to our tendency to recruit people from private-sector jobs who understand our challenges as a social business. We are required, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, to keep our compensation in the same band as other non-profits, and the reality is that we'll never be able to compete, salary-wise with private companies. That holds true for the management team as well. (I paid myself $400 a month in the first year of starting Sama, and nobody holds any equity as we're a nonprofit.) That said, we've made every effort to make this a great place to work by adopting policies including unlimited sick days, a 401k matching program, a generous parental leave and vacation policy, and flexible working schedules. As far as our office, we have tried hard to keep our overhead costs low by finding the nicest space we could in a vibrant neighborhood close to public transportation, cafes, and beautiful public spaces. The crime is regrettable, but we also feel that it's important for us to keep these costs low to pass along as much value as we can to our beneficiaries.