Sama Releases Annual Impact Report; Highlights ESG Progress
June 25 2024 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
In 2023, Sama created over 500 entry-level
jobs, transitioned North American offices to 100% renewable energy
and joined the UN Global Compact
Sama, the leader in providing data labeling, supervised
fine-tuning and model evaluation solutions for some of the world’s
biggest artificial intelligence (AI) models, today announced the
release of its second annual Impact Report. Throughout 2023, Sama
made significant strides towards its sustainability goals and
demonstrated continual progress in delivering benefits to all
stakeholders. These include the creation of 581 entry-level jobs,
transitioning its North American offices to 100% renewable energy,
a step towards becoming net-zero by 2050; and joining the United
Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest voluntary
corporate sustainability initiative.
“Committing to developing AI responsibly and ethically includes
committing to transparency into governance, operations, compliance
and practices. Publicly highlighting results in our annual Impact
Report, alongside joining initiatives like the UNGC, shine a light
on our ongoing efforts to ensure we do right by both people and the
planet,” said Wendy Gonzalez, CEO of Sama. “Our enterprise
customers need clear insights into every level of their AI supply
chain, and that is why we have consistently prioritized responsible
AI alongside delivering deep expertise and a high time-to-value
ratio. Our clients appreciate our unwavering focus on quality and
support our tireless commitment to social impact and rigorous ESG
standards.”
Sama created more than 500 entry-level jobs in 2023 to continue
providing underrepresented communities with paths to formal
employment in the digital economy and fair wages. Once they joined
the company, Sama research revealed that entry-level team members’
contributions to housing expenses increased by 60% on average. In
addition, team members contribute, on average, 50% more to
education expenses for others beyond their immediate family —
illustrating the powerful ripple effects of steady income on a
person’s wider community.
Sama also made a significant stride towards its net-zero goals
by transitioning its North American office spaces to 100% renewable
energy, which will lead to emissions reductions in the near future.
Findings from this process will inform the work being done to
switch to renewable energy in other Sama offices, like those in
Kenya and Uganda. This renewable energy usage puts Sama on the path
to halving its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and reducing its
Scope 3 emissions by 50% per employee by 2030, both of which were
set out in its first Impact Report.
As a UNGC signatory, Sama must align its business operations
with the UN’s Ten Principles, which pertain to human rights, labor,
environmental practices and anti-corruption efforts. Sama has
identified several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line
with its stated mission to empower and benefit marginalized youth
and women through digital skills training and employment, including
No Poverty, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and Reduced
Inequalities. As a UNGC member, Sama will issue yearly
Communications on Progress reports on its efforts toward these
SDGs, with the first expected later in 2024.
“As a public benefit corporation, every decision we make must
consider our mission to empower marginalized youth and women in
underserved communities in East Africa through digital skills
training and formal employment,” added Kristen Itani Koue, director
of impact at Sama. “However, our Impact Report underscores that we
do more than just consider our mission — we live it out, showing
others that it is possible to balance more than one bottom line as
a business. I am proud of our accomplishments in 2023, and I look
forward to sharing more of our efforts later this year in our UNGC
Communication on Progress.”
As part of its ongoing commitment to lead by example with
ethical AI practices, Sama highlights key governance policies and
practices that guided its work in 2023 in the report. Sama launched
a supplier responsibility program that required major company
vendors in East Africa to review and agree to a Supplier Code of
Conduct and complete self-assessments covering their policies on
health and safety, human rights, fair working conditions,
sustainability and business ethics.
In service of its goal to help develop AI responsibly, Sama
ensured compliance with a number of critical pieces of legislation.
In 2023, Sama completed a disclosure pursuant to Article 9 of the
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) in the European
Union (EU). Through the disclosure, the company reported on key
metrics related to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,
climate action and company governance, affirming that Sama is a
company eligible for inclusion in Article 9 portfolios.
In addition, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA)
went into effect in early 2023, and it mandates that businesses
conduct comprehensive due diligence to identify and rectify human
rights violations and environmental harm within their operations
and among their suppliers. To support its customers in their
compliance efforts, Sama has completed multiple disclosures
detailing its policies and practices related to ESG governance,
human rights and labor standards, health and safety, and climate
action.
About Sama
Sama is a global leader in data annotation and model evaluation
solutions for computer vision, generative AI and other major
applications of artificial intelligence. Our solutions minimize the
risk of model failure and lower the total cost of ownership through
an enterprise ready ML-powered platform and SamaIQ™, actionable
data insights uncovered by proprietary algorithms and a highly
skilled on-staff team of over 5,000 data experts. 25% of Fortune 50
companies, including GM, Ford, Microsoft and Google, trust Sama to
help deliver industry-leading ML models.
Driven by a mission to expand opportunities for underserved
individuals through the digital economy, Sama is a certified B-Corp
and has helped more than 65,000 people lift themselves out of
poverty. An MIT-led Randomized Controlled Trial has validated its
training and employment program. For more information, visit
www.sama.com.
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