Room To Read:

www.roomtoread.org

 

Imagine a world in which every child has access to an education. Room to Read is doing our best to make this dream a reality, one child at a time.

         

Over 250 million children around the world are failing to achieve basic literacy skills, and more than two thirds of the illiterate population is women and girls. Room to Read believes that all children, regardless of gender or background, have a right to education. By empowering children through this lifelong gift, we see a world in which people are able to realize their full potential. We are a global organization dedicated to promoting and enabling education through programs focused on literacy and gender equality in education. We achieve this goal by establishing school libraries, building schools, publishing local-language children's books, training teachers on literacy education and supporting girls to complete secondary school with the life skills necessary to succeed in school and beyond. We collaborate with local communities, partner organizations and governments to ensure that primary school children can become independent readers and girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions.

 

We currently work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia.

 

 

The most effective way to curtail the exploitation of girls is to provide them with an education.  In some countries, this need is best met by erecting schools and providing supplies, in others by creative measures targeting increased attendance. Educating girls is not only imperative as a human rights issue, but has a marked impact on global peace and economic health.

 

 

Room to Read Founders:

 

John is the founder and board co-chair of Room to Read. He started Room to Read after a fast-paced and distinguished career with Microsoft from 1991 to 1999. He was in charge of marketing and business development teams throughout Asia, including positions as director of business development for the Greater China region and as director of marketing for the Asia-Pacific region. John brings to Room to Read a vision for a scalable solution to developing world educational problems, an intense focus on results, and an ability to attract a world-class group of employees, volunteers, and investors.

 

Erin has been with Room to Read since 2001 and has led the collaborative effort with our in-country teams to design Room to Read's programs and launch new Room to Read countries. She currently manages all day to day operations for the organization, overseeing the programs, development, finance and human resource departments. Under her leadership, Room to Read has received numerous awards, including the UNESCO 2011 Confucius Prize for Literacy and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

 

Dinesh's history with Room to Read began in 1998 when he first met and collaborated with John Wood to launch what was then known as Books for Nepal. At the time, Dinesh was working as chief of operations for the German Technical Corporation's Rural Development Program and later held a position with the World Health Organization - all the while volunteering with Room to Read. In 2001, Dinesh became Room to Read's first official full-time country director in Nepal, where he led activities for eight years and ultimately established Room to Read as an influential non-governmental organization dedicated to improving education for children in Nepal. In June 2008, Dinesh transitioned to the role of regional human resources and administration director for Asia.