John Wood talks about charity Room to Read
A trip to Nepal inspired John Wood to leave a lucrative job and launch a charity that provides children with books, says Kate Whitehead
John Wood is a Microsoft executive who gave up his lucrative corporate career to change the world. That was in 1999, and it's fair to say he's made a difference. Six million children in Africa and Asia now have access to books, thanks to the non-governmental organisation he founded, called Room to Read.
That's the figure given on the jacket of the American's latest book. But even though it's barely a month since Creating Room to Read was published, the figure of six million has already become out of date.
"Our statistics outgrow themselves because we're growing so quickly. That's what I like about Room to Read," says Wood, who is in Hong Kong as part of his Asian book tour.
The latest figure puts the number of children the NGO has reached out to at 7.5 million. The rest of the statistics are no less impressive. In just over 12 years, Room to Read has set up 15,000 libraries and 1,600 schools.
The numbers keep projecting upwards - this is a man who thinks big and follows through. "That's a good start, but for me, it's just a down payment on a dream. I want to impact 50 million kids, I want to impact 100 million kids," he says.
It's hard not to get swept up in his enthusiasm. Last week he spoke to packed events at the Foreign Correspondents' Club and the Asia Society. It's not often that a talk about literacy and education pulls in the bankers and corporate bigwigs, but Wood managed it.