Wokai: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 17:21, 24 March 2023

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==History==

Wokai was founded in March 2007 by Casey Wilson and Courtney McColgan after they met studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing.<ref name="Newsweek">[http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/chinacalling/archive/2009/04/01/facebook-for-china-s-farmers.aspx China Calling : Facebook for China's Farmers]</ref> Wokai grew to a leadership team of five, a Boardboard of Directorsdirectors, and an Investment Committee in addition to numerous volunteers, part of chapters in cities including in Beijing, Boston, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Nanjing, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Toronto and Washington, D.C., London, Singapore, Bristol, Dallas and Atlanta.<ref name="Team">[http://www.wokai.org/f/about/index.php?page=team "Team" on Wokai.org]</ref> Wokai also maintained a fellowship program called "Wokai Fellows", which allowed selected individuals to work directly with one of Wokai's field partners in rural China.

Wokai's blog featured updates from the field through Wokai Fellows, profiles of Wokai volunteers from around the world, personal glimpses of rural Chinese life, and commentary about current developments in rural China and the microfinance sector.

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==Activities==

Wokai allowed accredited [[microfinance]] institutions in China, called "Field Partners", to post profiles of qualified local [[entrepreneur]]s on its website.<ref name="SF Chronicle"/> Wokai had two Field Partners, the Association for Rural Development of Yilong County (ARDY), which is based in Sichuan, and [http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/czwsda Chifeng Zhaowuda Women's Sustainable Development Association] (CZWSDA), in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund.<ref name="SF Chronicle"/> Wokai aggregates loan capital from individual lenders and transfers it to the appropriate Field Partners to disburse to the entrepreneur chosen by the lender.<ref name="About"/> The average loan is around $300 and is used by low-income entrepreneurs to invest in simple business improvements such as adding additional livestock or buying new products for dry goods stores.<ref name="MSNBC" /> As the entrepreneurs repay their loans, the Field Partners remit funds back to Wokai and the lender is alerted of this repayment.<ref name="About"/><ref name="AsianWeek">[http://www.asianweek.com/2009/07/13/bay-area-microfinance-reaches-rural-chinese/ "Bay Area Microfinance Reaches Rural Chinese : AsianWeek"]</ref> Once the loan was repaid, the Wokai lenders could redistribute it to another entrepreneur, up to a total of three loan cycles.<ref name="About"/>

Donors' funds were transferred to Wokai through [[Google Checkout]].<ref name="HelpCenter">[http://www.wokai.org/f/about/index.php?page=questioncenter "Help Center" on Wokai.org]</ref> Wokai's Field Partners charged interest rates between 15% and 20%.<ref name="HelpCenter"/> Field Partners used the interest from borrower loans to cover staff salaries, transportation, and operating costs.<ref name="HelpCenter"/>