About

Samala is the Cofounder + Managing Partner of Jump Canon, a venture firm offering early stage investment to founders of spectacular, unconventional and underrepresented backgrounds. Samala cut her her teeth as the founder of America’s first national organization to serve Asian Pacific American communities online: 18MR.org. She and her team engaged and organized Asian Pacific Americans, the country’s fastest growing demographic, during an election cycle that saw the highest voter registration and turnout for Asian Pacific Americans. 18MR.org continues to help Asian Pacific Americans flex their political muscles and launch groundbreaking online vehicles for civic engagement—whether pressuring a company to stop exploitative practices, talking to their parents about racism or homophobia, or getting to the polls. Samala's work and writing on innovation, technology and justice has been featured at the Obama Administration’s White House LGBTQ Technology & Innovation Summit and in Forbes, The New Yorker, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Al-Jazeera.

Prior to launching 18MR.org, Samala created START Mobile, one of the earliest digital art distribution networks. The global platform helped more than 500 artists, including Shepard Fairey, Justin Bua, David Choe, and Apex, reach mobile devices and other emerging media. At peak popularity, START had users in the United States, Central & South America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, India, China, and Russia. Samala embodies multitudes—a new media expert, Wharton business school grad, and a DJ that's played all over the world. Samala's experiences and accomplishments transcend the confines of any one industry, medium or continent.

Value System