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Watch on YouTube · @VoicesForGoodIn brief
Who is Gary White?
Gary White is a water engineer whose work began at a 1990 dinner in his home parish’s basement that brought water to one village. In India in 2003 he saw that families already paying for water and sanitation could repay a small loan at a fair rate, and built WaterCredit, which helps local lenders offer affordable loans for a tap or a toilet. In 2009 his organization merged with one co-founded by Matt Damon to become Water.org.
The story in the curator’s words
India, 2003
India, 2003. On a site visit, a water engineer meets a woman who is paying a loan shark one hundred and twenty-five percent interest. For a toilet. She is living on almost nothing, and carrying a crushing debt.
A parish basement, 1990
His name is Gary White. Back in 1990 he gathered friends and family in the basement of his home parish and raised enough to bring water to one village. That grew into WaterPartners International.
What charity couldn’t reach
In India he saw what charity couldn’t reach. Families like hers were already paying up to twenty percent of their income for water and sanitation. If they could pay that, he reasoned, they could repay a small loan at a fair rate.
WaterCredit
So he built WaterCredit, which Water.org says it launched in 2003. His organization doesn’t lend the money itself. It helps local lenders offer small, affordable loans for a tap or a toilet, and as loans are repaid, the money can be lent again to the next family.
Water.org
In 2009 his organization merged with one co-founded by Matt Damon, and together they became Water.org. Water.org reports that more than 92 million people have gained access to safe water or sanitation through its work.
It began with one woman paying a loan shark for a toilet. A gift is spent once. A loan that comes back can help the next family.
This page asks nothing of Gary White. The work carrying his idea forward is Water.org, where a small loan for a tap or a toilet, once repaid, can become the next family’s loan. Amplifying him is how we keep both the man and that work in the light. That is the whole of what Creative House Studios does here: tell a true story with dignity, and point to the people still carrying its cause forward.
Carried forward today water.org
Go to their work
Water.orgThe organization Gary White co-founded. Through WaterCredit it helps local lenders offer small, affordable loans for safe water and sanitation, repaid and lent again.Visit water.org ↗Questions answered from the sources below
Questions about Gary White
What is WaterCredit?
The approach Gary White built, which Water.org says it launched in 2003. Water.org does not lend the money itself; it helps local lenders offer small, affordable loans for a tap or a toilet, and as loans are repaid, the money can be lent again to the next family.
How did Water.org begin?
Gary White’s WaterPartners International, which grew from a 1990 gathering in the basement of his home parish, merged in 2009 with an organization co-founded by Matt Damon. Together they became Water.org.
How many people has Water.org reached?
Water.org reports that more than 92 million people have gained access to safe water or sanitation through its work.
Sources 7 cited
Sources
- Water.org — Our impactfoundation · water.org
- Water.org — The idea that’s changing charityarchive · water.org
- WaterCredit by Water.org (overview, 2016)archive · s3.amazonaws.com
- Gary White interview (LEADERS Magazine, 2022)reference · leadersmag.com
- Water.org co-founder Gary White honored with the 2025 Hoover Medal (Water.org via PR Newswire, 2026)reference · prnewswire.com
- Water.org (Skoll Foundation)reference · skoll.org
- Gary White, co-founder of Water.org (Missouri S&T Chancellor’s Speaker Series)reference · speakerseries.mst.edu
