John J. Wood is the founder and board co\u2013chair of Room to Read. An organization that believes World Change Starts with Educated Children\u00ae, Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. At age 35, John left an executive career track at Microsoft to form Room to Read. The business acumen honed there, combined with his passion to change the world, makes John a unique and inspiring speaker with universal appeal.<\/p>\n
John\u2019s award-winning memoir,\u00a0Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur\u2019s Odyssey to Educate the World\u2019s Children\u00a0<\/i>(Harper Collins, 2006), tells how he raised over $200 million from a \u201cstanding start\u201d to develop one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in history. The book was described by\u00a0Publishers\u2019 Weekly\u00a0<\/i>in a starred review as \u201can infectiously inspiring read.\u201d Translated into 20 languages, it is popular with entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and educators alike, and was selected by Amazon.com as one of the Top Ten Business Narratives of 2006 and voted a Top Ten Nonfiction title of 2006 by Hudson Booksellers. The book was also featured during John\u2019s appearance on\u00a0The Oprah Winfrey Show\u00a0<\/i>and the resulting \u201cOprah\u2019s Book Drive\u201d with Room to Read raised over $3 million from viewers.<\/p>\n
John\u2019s latest book is entitled\u00a0Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy\u00a0<\/i>(Viking Penguin, 2013). This sequel tells the story of how the organization has successfully tackled next steps\u2014including \u201cscaling beyond my wildest dreams\u201d while maintaining integrity and raising money in a collapsing economy. Kirkus Reviews calls it \u201can absorbing personal account of a remarkable achievement\u201d.<\/p>\n
John has been a three-time speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative and a five-time winner of Fast Company Magazine\u2019s Social Capitalist Award. He has been honored by Time Magazine\u2019s \u201cAsian Heroes\u201d Award, selected as a \u201cYoung Global Leader\u201d by the World Economic Forum and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He was selected by Barron\u2019s as one of the \u201c25 Best Givers\u201d in 2009 and 2010, ranking 11th and 9th on the list, respectively.<\/p>\n
John holds a master\u2019s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a bachelor\u2019s degree in finance from the University of Colorado, and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the University of San Francisco. He also serves on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative and serves as an Adjunct Professor focused on social entrepreneurship at NYU\u2019s Wagner School of Public Policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22995,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"members-type":[873],"class_list":["post-22994","biography","type-biography","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","members-type-authors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n