The Birth of Worldwise Education

A small café on the south Pacific island of Tonga may be far away from the boardroom where many business ventures are conceived, but it was the perfect meeting place for three people of disparate backgrounds who share one vision—improving the educational opportunities for children around the world.

On a warm, sunny December afternoon in 2003, Americans Charles Paul and his wife Kathy were relaxing in the Puataukanave Café, a 150-island monarchy situated about 2000 miles northeast  of Sydney, Australia. The couple had left behind their lives in Los Angeles two years earlier to explore the South Pacific on their 60-foot schooner, the Bird of Paradise.

The Pauls were not typical tourists; they often spent many months at each of their tropical destinations. Their lifestyle brought them in close contact with indigenous populations where they frequently saw the struggles faced by local schools. “Basic school supplies—chalk, paper, pens, pencils, and books—were virtually non-existent,” explained Mr. Paul. “These people had become our friends and we wanted to help.” The Pauls made it their mission to deliver donated school supplies from the U.S. to needy island schools.

As they sat at the café on that December afternoon, the Pauls noticed an elderly man enjoying an ice cream cone.  As he approached, it became clear that he was not an islander. An American, they guessed, judging from his casual dress and demeanor. 

“He came right up to us, stuck out his hand and said, ‘Hi, my name is Edgar Crocker. Maybe you saw my ship, the Picton Castle, arrive this morning,’” recalled Paul. Indeed they had. The Picton Castle, a stunning 179-foot three-masted tall ship based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, was the talk of the island. “We invited him to join us and asked him what he was doing so far from home. We were flabbergasted when he told us the ship was spearheading a non-profit mission to deliver donated school supplies to remote communities and islands around the world.”

Crocker, a Boston native, was an entrepreneur and philanthropist who believed passionately in the need to provide all children with access to a quality education. As a part-owner of the Picton Castle, he was instrumental in supporting the mission of WorldWise, Inc., a non-profit organization that teamed with the ship in 2002 to deliver school supplies to schools in the South Pacific, Indonesia, Africa and the Caribbean. To date, the effort has distributed more than 80 tons of much-needed educational materials to teachers and students on three year-long circumnavigations of the globe.

The Paul’s meeting with Crocker was providential. During their world travels, all three had witnessed first-hand two problems vexing public education: declining academic performance and insufficient school supplies. At the same time, they had also been impressed with the artistic talent of school children and local artists. Gradually their vision took shape. Why not market this artwork to benefit students and education? Moved by their common vision, the Pauls and Crocker became business partners in the creation of Worldwise Education, Inc. (WE)—a privately-held, for-profit corporation devoted to improving the quality of education for all children.

CEO Charles Paul, drawing upon his expertise in enterprise valuation, drafted a business plan that outlined a market-based approach that became the Artwork for Education™ model. Crocker, as Chairman of the Board, leveraged his extensive network of investors to generate start-up capital. Their idea was as simple as it was profound: develop papered products—such as greeting cards that feature children’s art—and market them to non-profit parent-teacher organizations, local retailers, socially-responsible corporations and individuals. WE would then invest its revenues to build an internet-based marketplace where school teachers could locate donated school supplies. They called it WExchange.

“WExchange is an online marketplace that will deliver donated supplies that teachers need most, such as paper, pens, pencils, crayons and books,” said Paul. WE’s future goals include expanding their product line to include the sale of fine art and handcrafts from around the world, fostering the sustainable development of the economies from which these items are purchased.

“One thing we learned from our travels is that we live in a global community,” said Paul. “What affects one nation affects us all. Education is the key. If we hope to lift ourselves out of the current state of conflict between the haves and the have-nots, we need to provide all of our children with better educational opportunities. This is the goal of Worldwise Education.”

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