Room to Read

My partner, Chad, and I have been providing Room to Read, a non-profit organization, that is doing an outstanding job of bringing literacy and education to Southeast Asia and Africa with pro bono consulting services. However the chapter in Tokyo that we are supporting is such a dynamic and exciting group of people, we often find ourselves doing more than just consulting.

John Wood, the founder, left a very promising career at Microsoft to start this venture. I highly recommend reading his book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. If not only provides a template for how a non-profit could and should run, it also is a simply inspiring read.

We just came off a big event with John, here in Tokyo in which we were able to fund the building of multiple schools, several reading rooms, thousands of books and over 300 years worth of scholarships for young women in Asia and Africa. 

The work Room to Read is doing doesn’t stop at increasing literacy and education levels, though. They are investing in the capacity for sustainability in the students and their countries and regions. Simply, as these children come of age they, by virtue of their education, bring with them greatly enhanced potential to reduce poverty, stabilize population, innovate sustainable food production and water use and land use practices as well as research and implement alternative fuel and energy generating plans.

All of that potential for less than a new car. Talk about Return on Investment.

Tags: capacity evolution, room to read, sustainability