Room to Read

John Wood

Founded by John Wood

Introduction to John WoodJohn Wood was born in January 1964 in Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a master’s degree in business administration and honorary PhD’s from multiple universities.

From 1991-999, Mr Wood worked at Microsoft as an executive, including Director of marketing, for Asia-Pacific and Australia. He also worked as Director of Development for Greater China.

Introduction to John Wood, pt. 2He now lives in Hong Kong with his wife, Amy Powell and often travels for media, public speaking and fundraising opportunities. He enjoys running, skiing, hiking, travel, reading, and wine. He has run 13 marathons, traveled to over 50 countries, has appeared as an extra in Law and Order, and is currently working on his fifth book.

History of Room to ReadDuring a vacation to the Himalayas, John Wood visited a primary school with a “resource director” he met while trekking. The school had 450 student and only a small amount of non age-appropriate books. The headmaster saw Wood’s reaction and suggested that he came back with books, which inspired him to solicit book donations from family and friends via an email from an internet cafe. A year later, John Wood returned with 3000 books. He also quit his job at Microsoft to devote himself completely to books for Nepal, which formed the foundation for Room to Read.

Impact of Room to Read10 million children worldwide have benefitted from this venture and learnt to be literate. These children are from developing countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and South Africa. Over 9000 teachers, librarians and other school staff underwent professional training to develop their teaching skills.

Credits:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wood_(activist)

2. http://orig12.deviantart.net/2b73/f/2014/044/4/3/crumpled_paper_texture_by_pkgam-d73k5mj.jpg

3. http://www.philanthropynyu.com/userfiles/image/John%20Wood%20headshot%20(by%20Sergio%20Villareal)(1).jpg

Team name: Illiterate Literacy 1. Cong Sheng 2. Darren 3. Kaiwen 4. James 5. Julian 6. Maung