John Wood (activist)

John J. Wood is the founder and executive chairman of Room to Read, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating world poverty through the power of education. He is also the author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (Harper Collins; September, 2006).

Biography

John Wood is the founder of Room to Read, a nonprofit group that builds schools and libraries for children in Asia and South Africa. Wood was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado, a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and honorary doctorate degrees in humane letters from the University of San Francisco and Westminster College.

John founded Room to Read in 2000, after a career with Microsoft from 1991 to 1999, where he led marketing and business development teams throughout Asia as the Director of Business Development for the Greater China region and as Director of Marketing for the Asia-Pacific region.

As executive chairman of Room to Read, Wood travels extensively to raise awareness and secure funding to advance the organization’s vision that world change begins with educated children. Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, Room to Read aims to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

As of 2010, Room to Read established 1,128 schools and 10,000 libraries in Nepal, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Sri Lanka, Laos, India, South Africa, Zambia and Bangledesh. In addition, the organization has published 433 local language children's books, distributed 7.4 million books, and provided nearly 9,000 secondary scholarships for girls in these nations.

Room to Read’s programs have reached more than four million children as of 2010 and hopes to improve literacy for ten million children by 2015.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

In his award-winning memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children" (Harper Collins, 2006), John shares the story of how he left his position with Microsoft to start Room to Read. In the book, he describes how he raised over $80 million of financial commitments from a ‘standing start’ to develop one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in history. The book was described by Publishers Weekly in a starred review as “an infectiously inspiring read.” Translated into 20 languages, the book was selected by Amazon.com as one of the Top Ten Business Narratives of 2006 and voted by Hudson Booksellers as a Top Ten Nonfiction title of 2006. John's book was also featured during his appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007 and the resulting “Oprah’s Book Drive” with Room to Read raised over $1 million from viewers.

In 2010, Wood published his first children’s book, Zak the Yak With Books on His Back which tells the story of sturdy, lovable Zak, a yak who helps to bring thousands of books to a rural village in Nepal. Illustrated in vivid colors by award-winning Nepali artist Abin Shrestha, the book highlights the challenges faced by students in resource-deprived countries like Nepal.

Awards and Distinctions

John is a three-time speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative and a five-time winner of the Fast Company Magazine and Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award. He has been profiled by the Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) as one of “America’s Great Leaders,” and was honored by Time Magazine with its “Asian Heroes” Award, recognizing “20 People under 40 who have done something brave, bold, or remarkable.” John has also won the Skoll Foundation Award for Social Innovation twice and was the second recipient of the Draper Richards Fellowship. Additionally, he has been selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. John won the Microsoft Alumni Integral Fellow award in November 2009.

He has been described by Fast Company Magazine as "all heart, all business."

John has received recognition as a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum and as one of Time Magazine's "Asian Heroes." Room to Read is a five-time winner of Fast Company Magazine's Social Capitalist Award, a recipient of the Skoll Foundation Award for Social Innovation, and a recipient of Draper Richards Fellowship for social entrepreneurs.

John holds a Bachelors of Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Colorado, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He lives and works in San Francisco, CA.

Media highlights

John is an active public speaker on the subjects of corporate social responsibility, leadership and global education. His work has been profiled by Bloomberg Television, CNBC, CNN, Fast Company, Newsweek, The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and USA Today. Recently, he was featured in:

• Businessweek.com: "John Wood Talks to Alaina Love About His Passion for Helping Others", July 30, 2009
• Businessweek.com: "John Wood Calls on Billionaires to Give More", June 15, 2009
• Fortune Postcards Blog: "Andrew Carnegie, version 2.0", April 9, 2009
• Parade: "Schools for the World", April 5, 2009

External links

• Room to Read website
• Leaving Microsoft to Change the World website
• Life lessons from John Wood's biography