23 Oct 2015
Anonymous employee
Sama Response
10yThe 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.