Jul 9, 2021
Aldo speaks to John J Wood, Founder of Room to Read; a global charity organisation that has helped over 23 million people in 15 countries and raised over $615 million to date.
John describes the challenges he needed to overcome to get the organisation where it is today.
Do visit John's website to find out more about his writing and book recommendations: https://www.johnjwood.com
Guest Introduction:
I believe my next guest to be the absolute personification of ‘getting things done’.
His own personal mantra ‘GSD - Getting Shit Done’ has also become my go-to especially when I am stuck in between 2 half-finished actionable items on my never-ending to-do list. But that as an aside.
Twenty-two years ago John Wood decided to quit his lucrative job as a Senior Executive at Microsoft in China to ensure that every child would have access to a quality education.
Or better put: The World Starts with Educated Children - Room to Read’s tagline.
To say that John delivered on his idealistic aspiration would be a rude understatement:
To date, Room to Read has brought the lifelong gift of education to over 23 million children in over 15 countries.
The organisation has raised over $600 million since its inception and has delivered impact beyond measure.
Just to share a few numbers with you:
- Over 14.3 million children benefited from RTR’s Literacy Program.
- 85,313 cumulative girls registered in the organisation’s vital Girl’s Education Program.
- RTR distributed over 26 million books.
- And the organisation manages to train over 15,000 teachers each year.
This is all very impressive John, a very warm welcome to you!