The inspirational story of a former Microsoft executive's quest to
build libraries around the world and share the love of books
What's happened since John Wood left Microsoft to change the world? Just
ask six million kids in the poorest regions of Asia and Africa. In 1999,
at the age of thirty-five, Wood quit a lucrative career to found the
nonprofit Room to Read. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "the
Andrew Carnegie of the developing world," he strived to bring the
lessons of the corporate world to the nonprofit sector--and succeeded
spectacularly.
In his acclaimed first book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World,
Wood explained his vision and the story of his start-up. Now, he tackles
the organization's next steps and its latest challenges--from managing
expansion to raising money in a collapsing economy to publishing books
for children who literally have no books in their native language. At
its heart, Creating Room to Read shares moving stories of the people
Room to Read works to help: impoverished children whose schools and
villages have been swept away by war or natural disaster and girls whose
educations would otherwise be ignored.
People at the highest levels of finance, government, and philanthropy
will embrace the opportunity to learn Wood's inspiring business model
and blueprint for doing good. And general readers will love Creating
Room to Read for its spellbinding story of one man's mission to put
books within every child's reach.