John Wood and Room to Read – Educating Children to Change the World

John Wood didn’t have to quit his job at Microsoft where he was one of the top executives at one of the top corporations in the world. But at age 35, he had a BIG dream and a plan to pursue it. It started with a vacation to Nepal. Seeking to combat professional burnout in 1998, Wood journeyed to the Himalayas. He met a Nepalese education official who invited him to a nearby school. Wood witnessed a school in disrepair, short on all necessary supplies, especially books.

As Wood left, the school’s headmaster said, “Perhaps, Sir, you will someday come back with books.” Wood acted immediately, emailing his friends to request their help. He collected more than 3,000 books, and returned to Nepal a year after his first journey to deliver the books. Soon after, in 1999, he quit his job with Microsoft to devote his life to building school houses and libraries in communities around the world that need them most. Wood co-founded the charity Room to Read. Here’s the mission:

“Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.”

According to its web site, Room to Read has had the following impact:

• Schools -  1,128
• Libraries – 10,000
• Books Published -  433
• Books Distributed -  7.4 million
• Girls’ Scholarships – 8,944
• Children Benefited – 4.1 million

Room to Read now operates in Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Laos, and Zambia, Bangladesh, and South Africa.

That’s enough reason to be impressed. But what we especially like about Wood and his charity is the innovation behind it. Wood is committed to operate Room to Read efficiently, like a business that can demonstrate return on investment for its donors.

“If every charity was run with more of a business focus, the world would be a better place,” Wood told Forbes Magazine in July 2010. “We’ve created what I consider to be a hybrid organization — the best of charity merged with the best of business.”

Room to Read has emerged as a leader among non-profits in its use of technology to operate more efficiently and promote its cause.

“Technology has been an invaluable tool that’s allowed us to reach out to our current investors as well as introduce ourselves to new supporters,” Wood told Forbes.

BIG Inspiration from John Wood:

Bold: Wood says, “”We believe that world change starts with educated children.” He’s on a mission to make that happen. “Our goal is to build one of the biggest networks of schools and libraries in the history of the developing world.”  

Innovative: Using technology as a catalyst and a foundation, Wood has built Room to Read into one of the fastest-growing, innovative charities on earth.

Generous: Wood says, “I’m passionate about education because it made me who I am today…My belief is that it’s time to pay it forward, and the developing world is a great place to start.”

Web site: http://www.roomtoread.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/roomtoread

Twitter: http://twitter.com/roomtoread

John Wood’s Book: In 2006, Wood told his story in the book  Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

Here’s a short video in which Wood shares his story (Note: It’s a few years old so some of the details are out-of-date)…

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Bold, innovative and generous people like Betty Chinn are in every corner of America. We want to find them, celebrate them, and connect them with you. If you know people who are BIG, please share their stories with us.