User:Euwyn/Sandbox

Wokai
Founded	March 2007
Founder	Casey Wilson; Courtney McColgan
Focus	Economic development
Location	Oakland, California, United States; Beijing, China;
Area served	China
Method	Microcredit
Key people	Casey Wilson (Chief Executive Officer);
Website	www.wokai.org

Wokai is an organization that allows people to contribute directly to microfinance institutions in China which in turn lend the money to entrepreneurs in rural China.^[1] It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Oakland, with core operations in Beijing, supported by individual donors, corporate sponsorships, fundraising events and grants.^[1]

How it works[edit]

Wokai allows accredited microfinance institutions in China, called "Field Partners", to post profiles of qualified local entrepreneurs on its website.^[1] Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund.^[1] Wokai aggregates loan capital from individual lenders and transfers it to the appropriate Field Partners to disburse to the entrepreneur chosen by the lender.^[1] As the entrepreneurs repay their loans, the Field Partners remit funds back to Wokai.^[1] Once the loan is repaid, the Wokai lenders can re-loan it to another entrepreneur, up to a total of three loan cycles.^[1]

Donors' funds are transferred to Wokai through Google Checkout.^[2] Wokai's Field Partners charge between 15% and 20% interest rates.^[2] Field Partners use the interest from borrower loans to cover staff salaries, transportation, and operating costs.^[2]

Organization and team[edit]

Wokai was founded in March 2007 by Casey Wilson and Courtney McColgan after meeting while studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing.^[1] It currently has 6 staff members and maintains 3 chapters of local volunteer representatives in New York, San Francisco and Seattle.^[3]