John Wood( Social Entrepreneur)

Ang Jing ken Loy Xing Kai Clarence Lee

About John WoodJohn Wood was born in January 1964, in

Hartford, Connecticut, where he spent his early childhood. He and his family later settled in

Athens, Pennsylvania, where he had attended high school. He holds a bachelor's degree from

the University of Colorado, and a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at

Northwestern University.John Wood worked from 1991 to 1999 as an

executive for Microsoft. His positions included The Director of Marketing for Australia, Director

of Marketing for the Asia-Pacific region and Director of Business Development for Greater

China.

John Wood

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 with 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 his 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

ImpactWood returned to the school with 3,000 books that are all donated in response to his email appeal to friends and family.Soon after, he would 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.

ImpactWood officially co-founded Room to Read in 2001 with Dinesh Shrestha and Erin Ganju. Currently operating in ten countries throughout Asia and Africa (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania,Vietnam and Zambia—the organization focuses on increasing the literacy and gender equality in education in developing countries. Its programs helps 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.

Sources: Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wood_(Room_to_Read)

Ang Jing Ken ( Leader )Loy Xing KaiClarence Lee