Windmill Microlending Impact Report 2020 - 2021 Converting potential into prosperity. A Year Like No Other The economic effects of the Yet another client reached out to us, pandemic on Canadians have unprompted to say: “I’m working now and need to pay all my remaining loan. I’m sure varied wildly, and immigrants have there is someone who needs the money more borne an unequal share of the than me.” turmoil. Here at Windmill, we’ve had a unique perspective on the Many Windmill team members are newcomers. impact for three groups of new Many are working with young families at home, or live and work in multigenerational Canadians – those considering a homes, or are isolated from their family in loan, those repaying a loan, and another country. The resilience of our Windmill those working for Windmill. team makes us very proud - they met the year’s challenges focused on our clients’ The year was one of repeated frustration success, and as a result, we ended the year for many immigrants hoping to restart their with several important achievements: careers in Canada. Closed borders, cancelled • Client incomes are still rising by an average exams and shuttered schools contributed of 3.3 times as a result of a Windmill loan. to a reduction in inquiries and applications for Windmill loans from prospective clients, • Clients recommend Windmill service with particularly in the first half of the year. glowing consistency, through hundreds Especially in the early days of the pandemic, of 5-star Google reviews and our Net women were disproportionately impacted by Promoter Score of 94. these developments. • Our client numbers increased in two Our active clients, those completing their important provinces: by 208% in Québec career success plans and repaying their loans, and by 20% in British Columbia. have felt the pandemic in very different ways. • We made our first resettlement loans Many have struggled with the loss of survival to refugee clients arriving in Canada jobs and uncertainty about the path forward. with secure job offers, through our Others came into their own this year, finding new partnership with Talent Beyond meaningful, skilled jobs for the first time Boundaries. in Canada. One such client, a medical lab technologist, was hired to process COVID-19 • We ended the year strong, with our tests. Before Windmill, he had worked the repayment rate at over 98% and our new night shift at a grocery store. He told us, “It’s loan numbers down by only 5%. a privilege and honour to serve in this role…a • And perhaps our favourite milestone is term of pride to tell my children, and my the election of our first alumnus, Dapo children’s children that I was actively involved Bankole, as a Windmill board member. in the pandemic.” 4 As the Canadian economy re-opens, many of us feel a sense of relief that normality is returning. But for newcomers, a return to normal is not good enough. Before the pandemic, the pay gap between immigrants and the Canadian-born persisted for as long as 25 years after the immigrant’s arrival. Since the start of the pandemic, the statistics for immigrants and visible minorities have only worsened. Together we can change those statistics. In the next five years, Windmill plans to scale Claudia Hepburn Carsten Jensen up from 1,000 to 4,000 new clients per year: Chief Executive Officer Board Chair to boost productivity, close the wage gap, and offer newcomers a fair chance. Champions like you, who have empowered our clients throughout the pandemic, will be a key reason newcomers succeed in the years ahead. Thank you for helping us convert potential into prosperity, one immigrant at a time. 5 Impact Overview A Windmill microloan is impressive in its impact. By the time our clients repay their loans, they increase their incomes by 3.3 times on average. They also join the Canadian workforce – the unemployment rate of our clients plunges to 7% from 41% on intake. As Canada’s only national microlending charity, Windmill loans are available to immigrants who meet our eligibility criteria in any province and territory. In 2020/2021, we challenged ourselves to attract more clients outside Ontario and Alberta. We saw success: British Columbia and Québec reported the highest growth among all provinces. They grew by 20% and 208% respectively. Dalia Registered Nurse Palestine “Five months after receiving the Windmill loan and with the money I saved from work, Income grows by I paid my loan in full. I wanted to pay the loan as soon as possible. Not only because it was good for my credit 3.3X history but also because I on average, with some wanted Windmill to help variance by profession. other immigrants like myself settle in Canada.” 6 Repayment rate: Unemployment drops from 41% to 7% 98.5% upon repayment of a loan. Number of loans per province: ON: 1,381 NS: 31 91% AB: 738 NB: 9 of Windmill Career BC: 168 PE: 3 Success Plans are SK: 164 NL: 2 completed or in MB: 47 NT: 1 progress. QC: 44 7 New Loan Growth Chart 5,000 4,000 4,000 3,000 3,100 2,400 2,000 1,800 1,000 1,300 1,028 970 817 665 400 488 0 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Actual Target Loan Portfolio Health Karla Total Outstanding Principle: Pharmacist Delinquent $16,679,777 (>30 days): Philippines (97.8% of portfolio) $261,568 (1.5% of portfolio) “Even if it seems impossible, and you face many struggles, it is possible to get back into your profession with the help of organizations like Windmill Microlending. They helped me achieve my dreams, and I Loan portfolio write-offs (last 12 months): $118,431 feel very grateful.” (0.7% of portfolio) 8 Our top 5 Windmill has countries of helped clients from origin: 141 different countries India since 2005. Nigeria Philippines Number of active Iran client loans: Sudan 2,588 Total Active Loans by sector: 9% 0.7% Social Other 0.7% 0.5% Sales and Service Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport 1% 10% Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Business, Finance and Administration 13% 4% Natural and Applied Sciences Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators 8% Management 53% Health 9 Windmill Clients Windmill’s Net Promoter Say it Best Score: Since each Windmill client has unique needs, we offer personalized support to help them achieve their career goals and succeed in Canada. We constantly measure their satisfaction to find better ways to support skilled immigrants and improve our menu of client services. The results NPS are outstanding. Our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures client satisfaction, is 94, meaning that almost all of our clients would 94 enthusiastically recommend Windmill to a friend or family member. Another way our clients show their satisfaction is by writing Google reviews. Our clients independently share their honest and unbiased opinions and, so far, we have seen only positive responses and predominately five- star reviews. 10 Google Reviews RF VG I can’t find words to express how thankful I am to all Windmill made my dreams come true during very hard the people behind Windmill. From the start of the times. I don’t have enough words to thank them. I feel process to the end, the staff are so helpful, courteous, so blessed to have their help and support through such respectful and professional. My coach did an impressive a difficult time in my life. Thank you for all the work and amazing job helping me reach my goals, including you did to help me in my journey. The staff were very my wife who is now finishing her Medical Technologist professional throughout every step of the loan process. I refresher course. Salute! Kudos. will be recommending Windmill to everyone. – Rich Francis, Toronto – Volkan Gokpinar, Calgary FA EC I’d like to thank Windmill Microlending for being there Excellent organization. The attention has been of to encourage professionals like myself who believe and the highest order and the staff is very attentive and invest in continuous learning and growth. Windmill polite. They listen carefully to our needs, give us the Microlending was there to not only support me financially, opportunity to advance our professional development in but they offer a holistic approach through their career this country and offer advice before and after receiving development initiative(s), mentoring and much needed the loan. I recommend them 1,000%. financial education. Thank you again for being there! – Edgardo Chirinos, Calgary – Folake Akintimehin, Edmonton 11 Client Success: Supportive and Dr. Stephen Medical Doctor Personalized Nigeria From application to employment, Windmill supports newcomers to achieve career success. Strong credit scores and fair repayment plans “My coach constantly kept in touch are the aims of the loan management team, with me. She was always checking and they work closely with clients to lay this up to see how I was doing. This important foundation. Windmill’s coaches, showed me what a wonderful meanwhile, offer customized supports to organization Windmill is – a bank or each client. This may include a career success other lenders would not have kept plan, career path guidance or referrals to in touch with, nor offered support organizations that provide financial literacy to their clients like I received. I still training, resume writing or language skills. Many speak with my coach, even though of our coaches are immigrants themselves or I’ve paid my loan in full. She’s from immigrant families. They have direct insight into the challenges our clients face, and so the moved from being a trusted advisor relationship between clients and coaches is not to a friend.” a transactional one, but a true partnership.