Wokai Blog: Wokai Shanghai: The Journey To Build Our Chapter: Wokai China Microfinance Blog

This Guest Blog entry is from Wokai's Shanghai Chapter. Erica Chain is the President of the Wokai Shanghai Chapter and a social change-maker who is passionate about social responsibility and making a difference.

Philanthropy has always been important in my family, instilled by my mother who has been a full-time volunteer for Tzu Chi for many years. After working in both corporate and investment banking, I also wanted a chance to give back. When I visited China in 2008, I was overwhelmed with the poverty I saw in the rural areas. I decided during that trip that I would come back to China and do a service project.

Fast forward a year later...I saved enough money and was ready to leave my job. As I started to search for various volunteer projects in China, I realized the opportunities were limited. One of my best friends, Halle Tecco, worked at Kiva, and I learned a lot about microfinance through her. I thought microfinance sounded like a great solution for poverty alleviation in China.

That's when another friend of mine, Ted Summe, introduced me to Wokai. He had been working on a project for them that summer. What I like about Wokai is I really believe in the model...and it works! With Wokai, I feel like I am making a difference by investing in someone's business, rather than handing cash over.

And they make it easy. Literally: pick your borrower, click to donate, and sit back and watch as the loan gets paid back. Working with Wokai, I can actually see results. To go from corporate banking to banking for the poor was a really great transition.

The Shanghai Chapter launched in April of this year and has raised $941 USD to date. Wokai Chapters are the face of Wokai globally and the Shanghai Chapter has been active with community outreach and PR efforts. We have put on various local events to raise awareness about Wokai. These include a Wokai Yogathon, DFBW and Joint Alum Happy Hour with Georgetown. We have also participated in key conferences like Social Innovation China and presented to various organizations to. A lot of my time with Wokai is spent reaching out to the Shanghai community to spread the word about Wokai.

I always say I have friends in Shanghai that go out 8 nights a week so I don't have to. However, the one night I always reserve is the first Tuesday of the month, when we have our DFBW (Drinks For A Better World) events. DFBW is a bi-monthly speaker and networking event that brings together like-minded people to discuss relevant social issues in China. Our last DFBW was June 8th, where the co-founder and CEO of Qifang, Calvin Chin, spoke about his experience establishing China's leading online student loan service.

The Shanghai Chapter is so grateful for all the support we get from the local community. So many people have been kind enough to donate their time, venue, or services for our events. I am excited to see the energy continue with our Chapter as we launch an Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs Series and Wokai in the Classroom initiative later this year.