Small Investments, Big Dreams: Wokai Founder Casey Wilson

Wokai, whose name means “I start” in Chinese, is a microfinance nonprofit that makes small loans to rural entrepreneurs in order to help them break the cycle of poverty. The organization was founded by Casey Wilson, who, after traveling through rural China and witnessing first-hand the extreme poverty and lack of opportunity faced by many, decided to make a change. Three years after its founding, Wokai has built a network of thousands of investors, who have supported over 400 borrowers in fulfilling their dreams. Wilson took a breather from the fight against poverty to tell Agenda what it takes to make a difference in this interview from the November 18 issue.

What exactly is Wokai?
Wokai is a microfinance nonprofit that supports low-income entrepreneurs through microfinance loans. Field partners go out and meet local loan recipients, screen them, and make their information available on the Wokai website.

From a contributor’s perspective, you go online, and browse borrowers—their stories, their loan requests. You find someone that inspires you and contribute as little as USD 10 to support their loan. The transactions are done online with a credit card. That capital then goes to our field partners, who then distribute it to the borrowers. What’s made this so successful is that field partners don’t only distribute the loans to the borrowers, but also provide business screenings and training to ensure the borrower’s success in their business. Loans are typically one year long and between USD 150 and USD 900. At the end of the loan cycle, you have the option of redistributing your capital to support someone else.

How did Wokai start?
In college, I became very interested in economic development in China, which is why I majored in Economics and studied Chinese during the summers. China has the largest population in the world living under the poverty line, but because the pace of development is so quick, it’s possible to spark economic development in rural areas in ways that wouldn’t be possible in other places.

This is what inspired me to come here. I enrolled in Qinghua University, studies, Chinese and business, and moved into an apartment with two friends. Courtney, my roommate at the time, had been working on microfinance in China for about three years. We decided to combine our skill sets to create a microfinance nonprofit.

Is there a particular experience you had that inspires Wokai?
I became good friends with a bunch of migrant workers in Beijing, and got to know their lives, trajectories, and opportunities. They showed me the hotel-like room that their employer provided for them, which was about 20sqm and had eight people living in it. Most of them worked 16 hour days, 7 days a week, and would end up getting sick from exhaustion. After they were released from the hospital, they would have to work another two months just to pay off those bills.

I started teaching English to two of them so that they might be able to work at Starbucks or a hotel. After three months, one of the girls came to me and told me she had to give up, go home and get married; that there was no way she could improve her lot in life. There was nothing I could do besides finding out her bank account number and giving her money without her knowing, because she was not going to take a handout. That’s when I became more interested in systematic change.

Do you have plans to take Wokai international?
Not at all. There’s just so much work to do here in China with two hundred million people under the poverty line. We’ve got our work cut out for us just trying to make this work for China.

What are some of your biggest challenges and successes in working at Wokai?
Right now we have two big challenges. The first is how to scale our growth internationally, which includes the expat community in China. When donors contribute loan capital they have an option to give a ten percent donation to support our operations. To be sustainable as an organization, we need to have at least fifty thousand contributors per year. Right now we’re at about 2,100 contributors and our goal for the next 12 months is to scale it to about ten thousand. So we’ve got to roll up our sleeves and work on our marketing strategy.

The other challenge is that we can’t accept donations from Chinese nationals. Our donors come from a number of places – first the States, expats in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Canada, and Taiwan. We would like to be able to do public fundraising in Mainland China, but there are very few organizations that have this privilege, and if we achieve it, it will likely be through some sort of partnership.

Successes… Well, I’ve never had a real job. I’ve taught kayaking and was the night manager at a tennis club, but I don’t think any of that is applicable to running a non-profit. Two 23 year-olds did something that everyone told them they wouldn’t be able to do, and now we’re sitting here with a full-time paid team of five employees. We’ve already supported 450 borrowers who would not have been able to access funds to start their own businesses.

Do you have a story about a particularly rewarding moment?
Yes! One of my favorite borrowers is this woman named Wu Hailing. Wu Hailing and her husband had accumulated some debt and moved to Guangzhou to be migrant workers. They lived there for about four years working nonstop. Wu Hailing had saved up a little bit of money and bought some ducks to start a duck raising business. Three months into it, all of her ducks died. Her neighbor advised her to go see one of Wokai’s rural development partners and take out a loan.

She took out a loan and restarted her business. This time she was successful and was able to repay her loan and start saving for her child’s education. This past year, 18 others and myself sponsored her for another loan to scale up her operations. Wu Hailing is now on track to send her child to school and owns a great business.

Are there any businesses in Beijing that have been supported by Wokai?
No, we currently operate only in Inner-Mongolia and Sichuan. We would love to expand to Beijing if there are opportunities. Right now we’re looking for on-the-ground partners with a great impact on poverty alleviation, effective risk control systems, and leaders with a desire to grow.

What are some things you like to do while in Beijing?
Honestly, I live a pretty boring life in Beijing. I love running. I run a 10k through the hutongs from Dongsishitiao to Houhai a few times a week. I start my run early and get to witness the morning life Beijing – people eating breakfast, kids going to school, tai chi, and old people jumping into the lake.

There are also a few things that I haven’t gotten to do that I would like to do. I think Heyrobics is awesome! It’s a workout routine combining aerobics and calisthenics to cool music. Apparently, it’s the best way to get in shape and have fun at the same time. There are sessions in Chaoyang Park. I’d also like to join the hiking club, but haven’t had time.

I love Element Fresh on the weekends. Their hummus platter makes me the happiest person in the world. Once in a while, I’ll go to the four-storey dim sum restaurant near Yonghegong, Jin Ding Xuan. And I also love the DVD shops.

Do you have a favorite place in China?
I love Sichuan. I think Sichuan is amazing. It has a beautiful countryside with rolling hills and houses cascaded on mountains. The culture is great and the people are so warm. When I go, I just love the energy.

I also love Gulangyu Island, just off the coast of Xiamen. It has more pianos per capita than any other place in the world. Supposedly, you can hear a piano recital every night. It has no cars and the architecture is said to be a cross between Las Vegas and Havana. It’s got great weather and good energy.

For more information on joining Wokai in their fight against poverty, please visit www.wokai.org.

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