Wokai: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:57, 3 May 2012

Revision as of 09:53, 17 June 2012

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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> As of November 2010, Wokai has a leadership team of 5, a Board of Directors and an Investment Committee in addition to its 16 chapters of volunteer representatives 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 (with upcoming chapters in Brussels, Chicago, Kunming, Taipei and Vancouver).<ref name="Team">[http://www.wokai.org/f/about/index.php?page=team "Team" on Wokai.org]</ref> Wokai also maintains a fellowship program called "Wokai Fellows", which allows selected individuals to work directly with one of Wokai's field partners in rural China. Wokai has raised almost $380,000 in loan capital through over 6,800 contributions from 55 countries in order to distribute 504 loans.<ref>[http://www.wokai.org/ "Home" on Wokai.org]</ref>

<ref name="Wokai's Blog">[http://www.wokai.org/blog]</ref> Found on the company website, features 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.<ref name="Wokai's Blog">[http://www.wokai.org/blog]</ref>

In May 2012, Wokai announced that it is concluding operations due to a variety of factors.

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Over the last 5 years since starting Wokai and 3.5 years since the launch of our website, our team and global supporter community has raised over a half a million dollars in loan capital for micro-entrepreneurs living under the poverty line in China. We've worked together to fund over 1,500 micro-loans to 961 borrowers, all at an over 98% on-time repayment rate. When you take into account the families of our micro-entrepreneurs, these funds have supported over 4,000 people to start the process of moving out of poverty. Not only have we directly impacted the lives of these individuals, but our over 30 major media features in the likes of CNN, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Phoenix TV, and China Newsweek and our global volunteer community of over 300 volunteers in 20 cities around the world has brought our cause of growing microfinance in China onto the global radar.

Moving forward, our Field Partners have committed to use the loan capital contributed to date to provide a continuous cycle of new loans to micro-entreprenuersentrepreneurs in China's rural Sichuan and Inner Mongolia Provinces. With this commitment, over the next ten years, over 9,000 micro-entrepreneurs should have the opportunity to lift themselves, their families, and communities out of poverty.

I cannot thank you enough for all of your support. Even as Wokai winds down, the legacy that we've built together will continue on, empowering a generation of micro-entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams and laying the groundwork for the future growth of microfinance in China.