John Wood, born in 1964 in Connecticut, transitioned from an executive at Microsoft to a dedicated philanthropist after visiting a school in Nepal and realizing the urgent need for educational resources. He co-founded Room to Read in 2001, which focuses on literacy and gender equality in education in developing countries. As of July 2012, the organization has established over 1,600 schools and 13,500 libraries, benefiting 6 million children by providing millions of books and supporting girls' education.

2. • John Wood was born in January in 1964, in Hartford
, Connecticut. Where he spent his early childhood.
• He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of
Colorado, and a master's degree in business
administration.
• From 1991 to 1999, John Wood worked as an
executive for Microsoft. His positions included
Director of Marketing for Australia, Director of
Marketing for the Asia-Pacific region and Director
of Business Development for Greater China.

3. • John Wood is an overworked Microsoft executive.
He went to Nepal to distress himself. While hiking
in the Himalayas, he met a Nepalese “Education
Recourse Officer” who invited him to visit a school
in the neighboring village.

4. Little did John know that this trip
impacted his life forever. In the school,
he was surprised that millions of
Nepalese children have only a dilapidated
schoolroom and has severe shortage of
books. He was stunned when he realized
the amount of books the school had.
Moreover, the books were kept safely
under locks as it was so precious and all
this is for to protect the books from
being touched by the children. This
touched his heart thus will touch
thousands.

5. A year later, Wood returned to the school with 3,000 books—all donated
in response to his email appeal to friends and family. Soon thereafter, he
left his job at Microsoft entirely to devote himself full-time to Books for
Nepal, a side project that would eventually form the foundation for Room
to Read.
Wood officially co-founded Room to Read in 2001. The organization
focuses on literacy and gender equality in education in developing
countries. Its programs develop literacy skills and a habit of reading
among primary school children, and support girls to complete
secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and
beyond.
As of July 2012, Room to Read has established over 1,600 schools and
13,500 libraries, distributed 11 million books, and published 707 local-
language children's books—benefiting 6 million children to date.

6. CREDITS
Information sources:
www.google.com, www.roomtoread.org,
www.wikepidea.com
Team Name: BB49 (Team 10)
Group Members:
• Huang Ziwei
• Justin Lim
• Samuel Chiang
• Lukas Adam