November 12th, 7:30pm, University Club, San Francisco
Vida Samadzai
Vida Samadzai grew up in Afghanistan, before fleeing from Taliban rule to the U.S. in 1996. During her reign as Miss Afghanistan, Vida was condemned by the Afghan Supreme Court for participating in the 2003 Miss Earth pageant. She received a degree in Advertising and Speech Communications from California State University and is fluent in five languages. Vida has a passion for women’s empowerment and has firsthand knowledge of cultural norms that suppress women. In 2007, she received the U.S. Presidential Service Award for her dedication to helping women in Afghanistan and her charity work around the world. Currently Vida is a Bollywood actor who devotes her free time to helping Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.
As the Ambassador of Samasource’s Work for Woman Program, Vida supports our mission to guarantee dignified, computer-based work to women in East Africa and northern Pakistan.
Summer Rayne Oakes
Summer Rayne Oakes graduated from Cornell University, an entomologist and environmental scientist by training. In 2000 in the midst of her studies, Oakes embarked on a journey of cause-related modeling and innovative sustainable design/development projects to push sustainability issues through fashion and media, a position which earned her the name of “The Eco-Model ”. In addition to this, Summer Rayne is now a spokesperson, resident expert, and youngest Board of Advisors for Discovery Network’s Planet Green. She is also the spokesmodel for a sustainable line of Payless shoes, zoe&zac. Summer Rayne's recent book, Style, Natural: A Savvy Shopping Guide to Sustainable Fashion and Beauty, is quickly becoming the industry manual for sustainable fashion.
As the Ambassador of Samasource’s Refugee Work Program, Summer Rayne supports our mission to train refugees in Dadaab, Kenya to earn income through internet-based work.
Maegan Marks
Meagan Marks is Principal for Facebook's Growth, Mobile & International team, where she leverages internet marketing tools to drive user growth efforts globally. Previously, she developed product strategy for Facebook Ads and Pages, and has worked with hundreds of non-profits and brands to optimize their social distribution, including Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, and Kiva. Meagan holds a master's degree in Engineering from Harvard, a joint bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard, and an MBA from Stanford. Fluent in Spanish after spending her childhood in a goat-herding Andalucian village, she loves travel, fishing and kitesurfing. After visiting and volunteering in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Tanzania, Meagan recognized the immense entrepreneurial spirit and technology enthusiasm present in Africa; inspired by those experiences, she has become an advocate for social entrepreneurship and responsible outsourcing to East Africa.
As the Ambassador of Samasource's Youth Work Program, Meagan supports our mission to provide viable economic opportunities for at-risk youth aged 18 to 30 in Sub-Saharan Africa and rural India.
