Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Quest to Educate the World’s Children

In 1998 John Wood was a rising executive at Microsoft . Then a trip to Nepal inspired him to set up schools and libraries in the developing world.

Fuelled by the same drive that made him a top executive, Wood took his business acumen into the charity sector and created Room to Read, a stunningly effective organisation that has created a network of more than 2,000 schools and libraries throughout Asia and Africa in only six years.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World chronicles John Wood’s incredible journey, his first years at Microsoft, his life-changing decision to leave, and the adventure that followed. Wood shares the methods he uses to manage Room to Read, taken from the boardroom of one of the world’s most influential companies and applied successfully in a very different setting. His story is an inspirational example of how to create success on your own terms and change your world.

After earning an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, John Wood joined Microsoft in 1991. He quickly ascended to become Microsoft’s director of business development in China and the surrounding regions. In 1999, he founded Room to Read, a charity that promotes literacy throughout the developing world. He lives in San Francisco.