John Wood (Room to Read)
Encyclopedia
John J. Wood is the founder and board co-chair of Room to Read
, a global nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education in Asia and Africa. He is also the author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children and the children's book Zak the Yak with Books on his Back.
, and a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management
at Northwestern University
.
From 1991-1999, John Wood worked as an executive for Microsoft, including stints in Australia and China.
A year later, Wood returned to the school with 3,000 books--all donated in response to his email appeal to friends and family. Soon thereafter, he left his job at Microsoft entirely to devote himself full-time to Books for Nepal, a side project that would eventually form the foundation for Room to Read.
in 2001 with Dinesh Shrestha and Erin Ganju. Currently operating in nine countries throughout Asia and Africa (Bangladesh
, Cambodia
, India
, Laos
, Nepal
, South Africa
, Sri Lanka
, Vietnam
and Zambia
)--with plans to launch programs in Tanzania in 2012, the organization focuses on increasing literacy
and gender equality in education in developing countries. Its programs 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.
The organization celebrated it's tenth anniversary in 2010, which included the opening of its 10,000th library, construction of its 1,000th school, and support of its 10,000th girl through the organization's Girls' Education program.
As of June 2011, Room to Read has established 1,442 schools and 11,246 libraries, distributed 9.4 million books, and published 553 local-language children's books--benefiting 5.1 million children to date.
"You Say You Want a Revolution?" GOOD Magazine. (January 26, 2009)
"The Ultimate Second Act," Stanford Social Innovation Review. (Summer 2009)
Zak the Yak with Books on His Back. (Publishing cost underwritten by The Republic of Tea, 2010)
"Memo to Billionaires--We're Ready for You." (with Matt Flannery of Kiva
) CNBC.com (September 27, 2010)
- Microsoft Alumni Foundation Inaugural Fellow
- 2009 Asia Society Award Recipient
- Three-time speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative
- Five-time winner of the Fast Company Magazine and Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award
- Recipient of Time Magazine’s “Asian Heroes” Award, recognizing “20 People under 40 who have done something brave, bold, or remarkable” (the only non-Asian ever chosen for this honor)
- Selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum
- Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute
- Two-time winner of the Skoll Foundation Award for Social Innovation
- Second recipient of the Draper Richards Fellowship
- Profiled by the Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) as one of “America’s Great Leaders”
- Speaker at TEDx East (2009)
- Honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from the University of San Francisco
Room to Read
Room to Read is an international non-profit organization with its global headquarters in San Francisco, California. Founded on the belief that World Change Starts With Educated Children, the organization focuses on literacy and gender equality in education...
, a global nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education in Asia and Africa. He is also the author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children and the children's book Zak the Yak with Books on his Back.
Early Life
John Wood was born in January 1964, in Hartford, Connecticut, where he spent his early childhood. His family later settled in Athens, Pennsylvania, where he attended high school. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
, and a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management
Kellogg School of Management
The Kellogg School of Management is the business school of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, downtown Chicago, Illinois and Miami, Florida. Kellogg offers full-time, part-time, and executive programs, as well as partnering programs with schools in China, India, Hong Kong, Israel,...
at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
.
From 1991-1999, John Wood worked as an executive for Microsoft, including stints in Australia and China.
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World
Wood took a vacation from his work at Microsoft in 1998 to trek through the Himalayas. While trekking, he met a “resource director” for the schools in the Annapurna Circuit of Nepal, with whom he visited a primary school that contained 450 children and only a handful of books—none age-appropriate. Upon seeing Wood's reaction to the lack of books, the school’s headmaster suggested, "Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books," which inspired Wood to solicit book donations from family and friends via email sent from an Internet cafe in Kathmandu.A year later, Wood returned to the school with 3,000 books--all donated in response to his email appeal to friends and family. Soon thereafter, he left his job at Microsoft entirely to devote himself full-time to Books for Nepal, a side project that would eventually form the foundation for Room to Read.
Room to Read
Wood officially co-founded Room to ReadRoom to Read
Room to Read is an international non-profit organization with its global headquarters in San Francisco, California. Founded on the belief that World Change Starts With Educated Children, the organization focuses on literacy and gender equality in education...
in 2001 with Dinesh Shrestha and Erin Ganju. Currently operating in nine countries throughout Asia and Africa (Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
)--with plans to launch programs in Tanzania in 2012, the organization focuses on increasing literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
and gender equality in education in developing countries. Its programs 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.
The organization celebrated it's tenth anniversary in 2010, which included the opening of its 10,000th library, construction of its 1,000th school, and support of its 10,000th girl through the organization's Girls' Education program.
As of June 2011, Room to Read has established 1,442 schools and 11,246 libraries, distributed 9.4 million books, and published 553 local-language children's books--benefiting 5.1 million children to date.
Zak the Yak with Books on his Back
Wood authored his first children's book, Zak the Yak with Books on his Back, in 2010. The book, written in rhyme and illustrated by Nepali artist Abin Shrestha, tells the story of Room to Read in a manner accessible to school children. Wood has said that with the book he aims to inspire children to take action. Self-published by Room to Read with costs underwritten by The Republic of Tea, all revenue from Zak the Yak goes directly to the organization's programs.Published Works
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children. (Harper Collins, 2006)"You Say You Want a Revolution?" GOOD Magazine. (January 26, 2009)
"The Ultimate Second Act," Stanford Social Innovation Review. (Summer 2009)
Zak the Yak with Books on His Back. (Publishing cost underwritten by The Republic of Tea, 2010)
"Memo to Billionaires--We're Ready for You." (with Matt Flannery of Kiva
Kiva (organization)
Kiva Microfunds is an organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to microfinance institutions in developing countries around the world and in the United States, which in turn lend the money to small businesses and students...
) CNBC.com (September 27, 2010)
Awards and Distinctions
- Ranked #11 in 2009 and #9 in 2010 on Barron’s list of the “25 Best Givers”- Microsoft Alumni Foundation Inaugural Fellow
- 2009 Asia Society Award Recipient
- Three-time speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative
- Five-time winner of the Fast Company Magazine and Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award
- Recipient of Time Magazine’s “Asian Heroes” Award, recognizing “20 People under 40 who have done something brave, bold, or remarkable” (the only non-Asian ever chosen for this honor)
- Selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum
- Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute
- Two-time winner of the Skoll Foundation Award for Social Innovation
- Second recipient of the Draper Richards Fellowship
- Profiled by the Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) as one of “America’s Great Leaders”
- Speaker at TEDx East (2009)
- Honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...