My Story

Intro

Despite China's economic boom over the past decades, over 200 million rural Chinese still live on less than $1.25 USD a day. Inequalities have developed and are growing larger by the day, and the "have-nots" in rural areas continue to have limited access to basic financial services, healthcare, education, and environmental protection. Casey believes that microcredit, the extension of very small loans to those in poverty, is the best solution to correct these inequalities in a lasting way.

About Me

I grew up in Oakland, California, then spent a year living and studying in Barcelona, and, finally, went to college at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. In the fall of 2006, I moved to China to pursue a career in economic development, and, a few months later, I started a microfinance nonprofit called Wokai.

I have lived in China for the past three years and have loved the opportunity to experience China first hand during this period in which the country is going through so much change and development. I am passionate about social entrepreneurship and developing innovative models to address the major problems facing the world. I don’t think that I could be fulfilled as a person if I weren’t doing something to contribute to the world. I love entrepreneurship and collaborating with others to transform ideas into real organizations.

In my free time, I love to spend time with family and friends, run, hang out at the beach, and, embarrassingly, watch a bit of television.

My Venture

Wokai (“I start” in Mandarin) is an 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2007 dedicated to helping individuals in rural China lift themselves out of poverty through microloans. Wokai's platform connects individual donors and other contributors around the world directly with individual farmers and microentrepreneurs in rural China in need of small loans.

Wokai is a unique model that uses the Internet to facilitate microlending to rural China. Through our online platform, anyone around the world can fund microloans to rural Chinese individuals. Our users can browse the profiles of borrowers on Wokai’s website and learn more about their situation and need for capital. Once a borrower has been chosen, the user can donate any amount through our online payment system.

To date, Wokai has raised over $100,000 in microloan capital, been featured on CNBC, MSNBC and Newsweek and has garnered the support of organizations like Google and the Salesforce.com Foundation. Apart from our immediate goal of raising loan capital, Wokai is seeking to build a global community of individuals and institutions taking action to build a better China.

Casey on Bloomberg