While taking a break from a fast-paced career building out Microsoft’s global sales teams with a trek through Nepal, John Wood visited a local school and observed an all-but-empty library. The headmaster made a humble request: Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books. John went back a year later with 3,000 books on the back of six rented donkeys and the experience changed his life forever.
Within months, he had quit Microsoft to launch Room to Read with the goal of bringing the lifelong gift of education to at least 10 million children in low-income countries. From humble beginnings, the organization raised more than $1 billion of philanthropic capital and has now impacted 50 million children across 28 countries.
In 2022, Wood launched his second social venture, U-GO, as his “logical next step.” With so many young women reaching university age, thousands of requests were streaming in asking for financial help to attend local universities. U-GO has already awarded 4,320 long-term scholarships to ambitious and promising young women. The organization aims to increase this total to 10,000 by EOY 2026 and 100,000 by 2040.
In this program, Wood will share his expertise and experiences in areas critical to creating social change. These include setting BHAGs (big, hairy audacious goals), recruiting world-class teams, working in partnership with global communities, fundraising massive amounts of capital, and how to have fun while doing it despite the pressure. He will also share his personal stories including the challenges, the low points, his own way of constantly finding resilience and the importance of remaining focused on collective action to address global challenges.
Recommended reading available at The Bookworm in Edwards:
“Leaving Microsoft to Change the World:An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children“
