John Wood

At age 35, John Wood left an executive career track at Microsoft Corporation to form Room to Read, a nonprofit organization that “combines the heart of Mother Theresa with the scalability of Starbucks” to help children across the developing world break the cycle of poverty through the power of education. Razor-sharp business acumen honed at Microsoft, combined with a passion to change the world makes John Wood a unique, inspiring and popular speaker with universal appeal.  

John founded Room to Read out of deep concern that nearly one billion people lack basic literacy and that over 200 million children in the developing world are not enrolled in school. “I was blessed with a solid education which was a wonderful foundation for my future. As a result, I had a great career at a company that encourages people to dream big dreams. I started Room to Read as a way to give that same opportunity to children in the world’s poorest places.  Education is a hand up, not a hand out. It is within our power to be the generation that ends poverty, so we need to think big and execute flawlessly.”

Since its start in 2000, Room to Read has sponsored the opening of more than 1,400 schools and more than 11,000 multi-lingual libraries across the developing world. The organization has distributed over 9.4 million children’s books in multiple languages and supports nearly 11,000 girls with long-term scholarships. John describes these results as “total tip of the iceberg” as Room to Read plans to increase this literacy network to 20,000 libraries and schools serving at least 10 million children by the year 2015.

In his award-winning memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (Collins, 2006), John tells the story of how he raised over $125 million of financial commitments from a “standing start” to develop one of the fastest-growing non-profits in history.  The book was described by Publishers’ Weekly in a starred review as “an infectiously inspiring read.” Translated into 21 languages, it is popular with entrepreneurs, philanthropists, educators, and internationalists alike, and was selected by Amazon.com as one of the Top Ten Business Narratives of 2006 and voted by Hudson Booksellers as a Top Ten Nonfiction title of 2006. The book was also featured during John’s appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the resulting “Oprah’s Book Drive” with Room to Read raised over $3 million from viewers.

John holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a B.S. 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 for the Clinton Global Initiative. He is currently working with Viking Penguin on his second book to be published in late 2012.

• 2. Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

  This is a speech John first delivered at a Microsoft sales conference. With sales reps facing an increasingly competitive and ever-changing economy, Microsoft's sales leadership team requested that John speak about what's possible when a committed person dares to take risks and leave their comfort zones.

• 3. Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines of Social Change

  Leadership is a subject on which John lectures at leading business schools, including University of Chicago, Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton and Stanford. In this presentation, John highlights the leadership lessons that can be learned from the front lines of social change. This is an increasingly popular topic amongst corporations, universities, and membership organizations.

• 1. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

  This is John's first-person account of following his passion, and the lessons learned in doing so. It is a popular 'inspiring close' or 'bring people to their feet' dinner speech at corporate, industry, and education conferences.

• John spoke at our 500-person Starbucks marketing conference and was an amazing inspiration to our global team. Here is someone who is literally changing the world, and he invites you to participate! He does so with humour, energy, and no guilt. If you want to hear a story that will end with a standing ovation, invite John to speak (and then donate to his organization)!
  Starbucks Coffee Company
• John is a breath of fresh air to executives and professionals who are typically caught up in their busy lives. He connects with people's natural desire to do good for society. John was a big hit at our Software 2004 conference, where he received a standing ovation (the only one in the history of the conference) from over 1,000 CEO's, VP's, and venture capitalists. He is an engaging speaker who is guaranteed to make people passionate about life.
  Sand Hill Group
• I'm sure you are on to your next adventure by now, but I wanted to take a moment to thank you for joining us in Charleston at our Conference for Nonprofits. As was apparent by your long standing ovation, the response to your keynote speech was overwhelming. The audience of more than 1200 people was inspired by your story and challenged to act. Since returning to the office this week, I continue to receive glowing comments and emails from Blackbaud employees and conference attendees. It seems that for many, you were the "highlight of the event!"
  Blackbaud, Inc.

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  August 2006

  Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children

  John Wood discovered his passion, his greatest success, and his life's work on a soul-searching trip to the Himalayas. That trip convinced Wood to divert the boundless energy he was devoting to Microsoft into the enormous problem of worldwide illiteracy. After discovering that a remote Nepalese village had few books in their library, Wood returned to that school with thousands of books bundled on the back of a yak, and the rest is history. Leaving Microsoft is the story behind Wood’s decision to walk away from Microsoft to create Room to Read, and how he helped grant children the gift of an education.