Giving children ‘Room to Read’
Typically, presenters at Harvard University are sure of their place on the dais. “I am up here a little bit accidentally,” philanthropist John Wood told a crowd at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s (HGSE) Longfellow Hall on Thursday (Nov. 4). Although his story had a serendipitous start, Wood’s success as the founder of one of the world’s fastest-growing nonprofits, Room to Read, is no accident. In 2000, Wood founded the organization dedicated to educating children in the developing world through initiatives on literacy and gender equality in education. A drive to excel, to help others, and to work with a proven model has been a winning combination for Wood, a former senior Microsoft executive who discovered a higher calling while in Nepal in 1998. On a trek through a remote Himalayan village, Wood met a local headmaster who invited him to his school. The businessman was shocked at the dilapidated building and...