Wed. Oct. 17 2007Constance Droganes,
entertainment writer,
CTV.ca
It's not every day that a fast-tracking executive dumps a lucrative career. Yet Microsoft high-flyer John Wood did just that in 2000 so he could dedicate his life to ending illiteracy around the world.
"I was the imperfect person to do this, but I stepped in because I got really annoyed," says Wood.
In 1998, Microsoft's 35-year-old Director of Business Development for the Greater China Region took a vacation that changed his life. Trekking through a remote Himalayan village, he was invited by a local teacher to visit their school. Wood was shocked to see the school's 20 tattered books were locked away to protect them from the students.
"It was an experience I'll never forget," says Wood, who founded the award-winning, non-profit organization Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org) to give the world's children the lifelong gift of education.
"The fact is almost one billion people are illiterate in the world," says Wood. "That trip opened my eyes. I saw that we weren't doing enough to combat the problem and every day we did nothing was a day lost. We were missing the boat -- and the opportunity to help educate the poorest of children when their developing brains are most receptive."
Since Room to Read's inception in 2000, 1.3 million in kids in Vietnam, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Zambia now have access to enhanced education infrastructure. Wood's initiative has also opened 287 schools, established over 3,800 bilingual libraries, created 136 new computer and language rooms, funded long-term scholarships for 3,448 girls and put more than three million books into the hands of eager young readers.
Even former U.S. President Bill Clinton is supporting Room to Read's platform, as is talk show titan Oprah Winfrey, who invited Wood to her show in February of 2007.
"People ask me a lot about being on Oprah," Wood smiles. "I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be on her show and promote our cause. But celebrity isn't all there is to this initiative. It's about real people doing extraordinary things. That's where the real power lies in Room to Read."
As Wood says, "Education is the ticket out of poverty. Who hasn't had one relative in their family that broke the cycle of poverty by betting educated?"
With thousands of village anxious to work with Room to Read, Wood says, "We have great local teams. We also have an amazing local language children publishing program where local artists create children's books. But it all comes down to continuing the scale of the work we're doing."
On October 19th, the Toronto chapter of Room to Read will host "An Evening with John Wood" (6:30 pm - 8:30 pm) at the RBC Plaza. The city's inaugural Room to Read event, "A Novel Affair," took place in December of 2006.
David Pullara, Room to Read's current Toronto Chair, first heard about the organization at a presentation Wood made to the Starbucks Coffee Corporation. Noting that Toronto was not highlighted on Wood's map of fundraising chapters, Pullara took up challenge to add Toronto to the list.
"Waving that challenge in front of David was like waving a red flag in front of a bull," says Wood. Thanks to Pullara and his team's efforts, Toronto's inaugural event raised $28,936.29 CDN for Room to Read. The proceeds helped build a school in Nepal and provide full scholarships to five Nepalese girls.
"We've got a few surprises planned for this year's event," says Wood. "One thing I can tell you is that one wealthy Canadian entrepreneur has promised to match the figure raised in Toronto. It will be at least six figures, and that's money that will help change a lot of kids' lives."
"I was the imperfect person to do this, but I stepped in because I got really annoyed," says Wood.
In 1998, Microsoft's 35-year-old Director of Business Development for the Greater China Region took a vacation that changed his life. Trekking through a remote Himalayan village, he was invited by a local teacher to visit their school. Wood was shocked to see the school's 20 tattered books were locked away to protect them from the students.
"It was an experience I'll never forget," says Wood, who founded the award-winning, non-profit organization Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org) to give the world's children the lifelong gift of education.
"The fact is almost one billion people are illiterate in the world," says Wood. "That trip opened my eyes. I saw that we weren't doing enough to combat the problem and every day we did nothing was a day lost. We were missing the boat -- and the opportunity to help educate the poorest of children when their developing brains are most receptive."
Since Room to Read's inception in 2000, 1.3 million in kids in Vietnam, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Zambia now have access to enhanced education infrastructure. Wood's initiative has also opened 287 schools, established over 3,800 bilingual libraries, created 136 new computer and language rooms, funded long-term scholarships for 3,448 girls and put more than three million books into the hands of eager young readers.
Even former U.S. President Bill Clinton is supporting Room to Read's platform, as is talk show titan Oprah Winfrey, who invited Wood to her show in February of 2007.
"People ask me a lot about being on Oprah," Wood smiles. "I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be on her show and promote our cause. But celebrity isn't all there is to this initiative. It's about real people doing extraordinary things. That's where the real power lies in Room to Read."
As Wood says, "Education is the ticket out of poverty. Who hasn't had one relative in their family that broke the cycle of poverty by betting educated?"
With thousands of village anxious to work with Room to Read, Wood says, "We have great local teams. We also have an amazing local language children publishing program where local artists create children's books. But it all comes down to continuing the scale of the work we're doing."
On October 19th, the Toronto chapter of Room to Read will host "An Evening with John Wood" (6:30 pm - 8:30 pm) at the RBC Plaza. The city's inaugural Room to Read event, "A Novel Affair," took place in December of 2006.
David Pullara, Room to Read's current Toronto Chair, first heard about the organization at a presentation Wood made to the Starbucks Coffee Corporation. Noting that Toronto was not highlighted on Wood's map of fundraising chapters, Pullara took up challenge to add Toronto to the list.
"Waving that challenge in front of David was like waving a red flag in front of a bull," says Wood. Thanks to Pullara and his team's efforts, Toronto's inaugural event raised $28,936.29 CDN for Room to Read. The proceeds helped build a school in Nepal and provide full scholarships to five Nepalese girls.
"We've got a few surprises planned for this year's event," says Wood. "One thing I can tell you is that one wealthy Canadian entrepreneur has promised to match the figure raised in Toronto. It will be at least six figures, and that's money that will help change a lot of kids' lives."
9 comments:
This is a win-win cause. Microsoft help people to read, and in turn, people will buy Microsoft reader software trom them, of course that is if Microsoft make it affordable for them (???)
No it is better hight charged to the rich and give it free to the poor!
With a reportage I saw yesterday, I am not sure that Microsoft is a better solution to Cambodia. They give you 1 dollar, and they want to make 100 dollars with their services. For example, They invested in an enterprise who supported the killing of the population of Sudan.. and much more. Win for some persons... and WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN... FOR MICROSOFT. I NEVEER THOUGHT THAT BILL GATES IS SUCH A BLOOD SUCKER!
What a bunch of losers, I am talking about the people who made the above jealous comments. After what we have gone through, we should know more about philanthropy. Please observe and learn from the successful people and see whether we can surpass them, stop criticizing just for sake of making ourselves stupid. Bill gates, the founder of Microsoft is the richest man on earth, yet he dedicates his life to help people in need, please search for "Bill Gates Foundation" for more information. We should admire and respect people like him and never stop for a moment thinking that one day, we will follow his footsteps to do whatever we can to serve...
Please do the right thing!
gentleman
Good to see people giving away to help out others.It is really encouraging.IT IS BETTER THAN STRIP THE COUNTRY TO THE BONE and never let go .What a life!!!!.
Neang SA
Well, I must say this is one of Microsoft project that I can hack.
Previously, they try to help us to control HIV/AIDS, but I can't hack the project. They wanted to subject the prostute with stuff that is not fully tested, but Lucky us, all of the prostitutes told them to shove it, hehehe. What an asshole BG was at that time.
We need more philanthropists, like John Wood, on this planet. We're talking about distinguished individuals here, not the company. Some commentators here seem to get person and company mixed up. Of course, the company must make profits. If not, it's called non-profit organisations such as NGOs, IOs and UNOs, which are in turn getting generous donations from financially successful people.
Bill Gates is a philanthropist as well as Microsoft Chairman. He has one vision for IT and another vision for the world poor. Imagine, if Microsoft took a hard stand against Cambodia on software copyright infringements then some of the clueless sods here would not be able to use pirated software to make silly comments on the web. Do a proper research before making comments that give other educated people the impression that you're an idiot.
You are a deceived idiot, the asshole (Bill Gate) was trying to used Khmer People as a Ginny Pig to test HIV/AIDS medicine for the US citizen. If he's such an angel, he would test out his medicine first before offering it to us, you infidel motherfucker.
Dear 809pm, you know how to put your comments on this article, it goes to show that you are quite intelligent. Why are you so angry, my friend?
Take it easy, cherish the life you have.
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