Discovering Watsi’s Mission and a Path to Purposeful Impact

By Raj Malik, Board Member, Watsi | Dec 18th, 2024

Imagine just turning 50, returning home with your family from South Africa, and reflecting on your impact on the world—asking yourself, “How can I do more?”

This was exactly where I found myself last summer: energized by new perspectives and searching for a way to make a more meaningful contribution. I reached out to friends, hoping to find an organization that aligned with my values. Soon, a friend connected me with the Board Chair of Watsi, Margaret Cornelius, who introduced me to Watsi’s Executive Director, Mackinnon Engen. From our very first conversation, I immediately connected with Watsi’s mission and was deeply inspired by the team’s commitment to making healthcare accessible globally.  

I often remind my 14-year-old daughter that when you find something that truly inspires you, it’s important to go all in and do your part to help make the world a better place. Watsi gave me that spark, and it’s why I’m so passionate about its mission.

You, too, can make a meaningful impact today by meeting patients on Watsi through the link below and helping directly support life-changing healthcare around the world. 

Watsi’s Founding Story: Transforming a Simple Idea into Global Impact

Learning about Watsi’s founding story added a whole another level of inspiration. The idea behind Watsi came to Chase Adam, a Peace Corps volunteer, during a chance encounter on a bus in Costa Rica. He noticed a woman carrying her son’s medical records in a red folder, passing them around to build trust as she asked for donations. This simple yet powerful act of transparency touched Chase, who wondered why a website didn’t exist to help people like that mother he met on the bus, access critical healthcare. When he returned from the Peace Corps in 2011, he brought this vision to life by creating Watsi, naming it after the Costa Rican town where the idea took shape.

Watsi’s co-founder, Grace Garey who was working at Kiva, shared Chase’s vision and jumped in to build a new organization centered on radical transparency. Watsi became the first nonprofit accepted into Y Combinator, pioneering a technology-driven approach that transforms healthcare funding. Today, their innovative approach has raised $18 million, funding 30,000+ patients from 33 countries while ensuring that 100% of donations go directly to medical care.

Since joining Watsi's Board of Directors, I’ve been energized by the passion and commitment of everyone I meet within the organization. Working alongside Mackinnon and Margaret, as well as Sonam Singh, Head of Marketing & Insights, Emily Michael, Chief of Growth and Engagement, and CFO, Keenyn McFarlane, has been a truly inspiring experience. Their dedication to Watsi’s mission is infectious, and I am honored to collaborate with such a talented, driven team that the co-founders Chase Adam and Grace Garey built to help shape Watsi’s powerful mission.

Radical Transparency and Proven Impact

Watsi’s model is built on the foundation of trust and measurable outcomes. With a commitment to operational efficiency and leveraging crowdfunding, the platform funds life-changing procedures in a way that contrasts sharply with traditional healthcare delivery systems.

Watsi’s innovative model ensures that 100% of donations go directly to pay for medical care, allowing donors to see exactly where their money goes and the immediate difference it makes.

This transparency fosters a deep sense of community and purpose, reflected in Watsi’s impressive 55% donor retention rate—far exceeding the nonprofit sector's average.

By funding life-changing surgeries and medical care, Watsi addresses pressing healthcare inequities. For instance, a seven-year-old in Kenya needing clubfoot surgery to walk properly or a 23-year old healthcare worker in Burma in need of heart surgery himself—all can receive the timely care they need thanks to donor support on Watsi. This work not only saves lives but also creates ripple effects, boosting economic growth and strengthening health systems in underserved regions.

Addressing a Global Need: Why Surgical Care Matters 

The statistics are staggering: 

• An estimated 17 million lives are lost annually to treatable conditions requiring surgery—5X greater than the combined fatalities from HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis.
• Approximately 30% of the global burden of disease is caused by conditions that can be treated with surgery.
• Poor access to surgical care is projected to cost low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) $12.3 trillion in lost economic output by 2030.

Investing in surgical services in LMICs is affordable and life-saving, with ripple effects that boost economic growth and benefit entire health systems. Building capacity in surgical care positively impacts all health sectors, improving outcomes across diverse patient populations, ages, and genders.  By addressing these unmet needs, Watsi is helping to reduce the health and economic toll of untreated conditions, giving people the chance to lead healthier, more productive lives while meaningfully driving better health outcomes.

My Role at Watsi: Leveraging Technology to Amplify Impact 

With a background deeply rooted in healthcare technology and company-building, I bring to Watsi an understanding of how to leverage innovation to transform healthcare access and outcomes. I joined Audax Health, later known as Rally Health, in its early days and helped grow the company as it set out to solve one of healthcare’s toughest challenges: patient engagement. Rally Health aimed to shift healthcare from a reactive “sick care” system to one focused on prevention, wellness, and patient empowerment. Our technology worked within the existing healthcare infrastructure to offer resources and programs that connected patients, insurers, and providers while cutting through challenges that often keep patients from accessible, affordable care.

Over time, we grew Rally to serve over 45 million users globally and facilitated billions of incentive dollars through our platform, supporting health and wellness programs for more than 100,000 employers. These efforts helped establish Rally Health as a worldwide leader in digital healthcare engagement. 

My career in healthcare technology has taught me how innovation can transform access and outcomes. The lessons I learned—streamlining healthcare delivery, cutting unnecessary costs, and centering patient needs—align seamlessly with Watsi’s mission.

Watsi is not just another nonprofit—it is an innovative health-tech solution that leverages crowdfunding to tackle healthcare inequities on a global level. By connecting donors directly to patients, Watsi has created a model that allows anyone to contribute to healthcare access in a tangible and measurable way. Every donation directly impacts a life, creating a unique value loop where donors become an active part of each patient’s story.

As part of this journey, I am excited to contribute my expertise to help Watsi scale its impact and innovate further. 

A Call to Action: Join Us in Making Healthcare Accessible 

Watsi represents a bold vision for global health equity, and we cannot make it a reality alone. Whether you’re a donor, innovator, or partner, there are countless ways to contribute:

• As a donor, visit Watsi.org to directly fund life-saving care and see the tangible impact of your contribution.
• As a healthcare innovator, bring fresh ideas to advance Watsi’s tech-driven approach to solving healthcare disparities.
• As a partner, collaborate with us to expand our reach and create scalable solutions for underserved communities.

Together, we can build a world where healthcare is a reality for all. By sharing Watsi’s mission, contributing resources, or connecting us with others who share this vision, you too can help Watsi continue to grow and change lives. Now is the time to be part of a story of increasing our global impact and bringing more hope around the globe. Let’s make healthcare accessible for everyone, everywhere.