ReThinking Matt Damon on solving one of the planet’s biggest problems, in partnership with Gary White
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Feb 24, 2026 
Matt Damon, actor and longtime water-access advocate, teams with Gary White, social entrepreneur and Water.org CEO. They trace their partnership and the water-credit microfinance idea. They share human stories from Zambia, debate how to scale impact, and brainstorm bold budgeting and innovation tournaments to reach billions more.
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Water Credit Turns Daily Costs Into Repayable Loans
- Water credit reframes microloans as time‑saving investments rather than income loans.
- Gary observed poor households already pay for water, so loans repay by buying back time and enabling repayment at 98% rates.
Recycling Loans Slashes Cost Per Person
- Water.org's model recycles capital so philanthropic cost per person falls dramatically.
- They reduced cost from ~$25 per person (traditional well) to about $5 by using loans that get repaid and redeployed.
The Problem Was Financial Not Just Technical
- Solving water access is more about finance than engineering; existing informal payments show a financing solution exists.
- Gary redirected existing household expenditures into affordable, repayable loans and mobilized $7B in microloans.