Josh Wood is the founder of Room to Read, a nonprofit that provides under-privileged children with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education. Working in countries that have a desperate lack of resources to educate their children, Room to Read partners with villages to build schools, establish libraries and populate them with donated English books, provide computer and language tools, and provide scholarships for young girls that can’t afford the fees that are required of other students.

It all began on a rare vacation from his hectic job at Microsoft when John took a trip to Nepal. After crossing paths in a hiker’s hotel with a Nepali schoolmaster that was visiting local village schools, Wood decided to take a day and visit one of the schools too. The rest is history.

Since 1999, Room to Read has built over 300 schools, established over 4,000 libraries, published more than 200 local-language children’s titles, donated over 2 million English language Children’s books, established more than 125 computer and language labs, and funded nearly 4,000 long-term girls’ scholarships.

Not only is John a master fundraiser, genius businessman and risk-taker galore, he is a brilliant writer. And knowing that poverty is nearly always synonymous with a lack of education, John is using every talent he has to literally changing the world.

I feel kind of lazy…