John Wood (activist)

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John Wood
Born1963 or 1964 (age 61–62)
Connecticut, U.S.
Education University of Colorado Northwestern University (MBA)
Organization(s) Room to Read
U-Go

John J. Wood (born 1963 or 1964) is an American activist. In 2000, Wood founded the global literacy and education charity Room to Read. In 2021, Wood founded the nonprofit U-Go to fund women's postsecondary education.

Contents

Early life

John Wood was born in 1963 or 1964. [1] He spent his childhood in Connecticut and Athens, Pennsylvania. [1] He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business in 1986 [2] and graduated with a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management in 1989. [3] [1] [4] After a "stint" in commercial banking, Wood worked for Microsoft. [1] His last position in 1999 was Greater China director of business development. [5]

Room to Read

In 1998, Wood took a vacation from his work at Microsoft to trek through the Himalayas. [6] In Nepal, he found that many primary schools did not have the resources for books. Wood solicited 3,000 books donated from friends and family, and delivered them back to Nepal. [7] [8]

In 2000, Wood founded Room to Read and worked full-time to promote literacy and fund primary education.

Wood published two autobiographies about his work with Room to Read: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children in 2006, and Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy in 2013.

U-Go

In 2021, Wood left Room to Read to found U-Go, a nonprofit dedicated to funding women's postsecondary education in nine low-income countries. [5] According to the organization, U-Go funded scholarships for 5,900 awardees by the end of 2025. [9]

Published works

Personal life

In 2010, Wood lived in San Francisco. In 2022, Wood said in an interview that he left Hong Kong after eight years due to the COVID policy and the national security law. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Thompson, Bob (2006-09-09). "His Bottom Line: Educating the World's Kids". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  2. ↑ "'Room To Read' Founder to Speak at CU-Boulder Commencement May 7". CU Boulder Today. 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2025-12-24.
  3. ↑ For University of Colorado and Kellogg, see Thompson 2006. For year of MBA, see Church 2007.
  4. ↑ Church, Asa (Spring 2007). "Room to Read". Northwestern Magazine. Retrieved 2025-12-24.
  5. 1 2 Knott, Kylie (2024-11-20). "How ex-Microsoft director is helping young women in low-income countries go to university". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2025-12-24.
  6. ↑ Wood, John, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World Archived 2009-09-04 at the Wayback Machine June 2008, Harper, page 261.
  7. ↑ Van Slambrouk, Paul (2010-09-07). "Once a high-tech exec, he now shares his passion for reading in Asia and Africa". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2025-12-24.
  8. ↑ Connolly, Norma (2006-01-23). "Bricks and books". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2025-12-24.
  9. ↑ "October 2025 Newsletter". U-GO University. Retrieved 2025-12-24.
  10. ↑ DW News (11 April 2022). Companies and individuals leave Hong Kong over zero-COVID policy. DW News. Retrieved 19 April 2022– via YouTube.
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