Room to Read Moves to New Offices

Room to Read has left the Presidio and moved to a new downtown San Francisco location. The relocation to the 12,000 square foot space was necessary to keep up with the organization's rapidly growing staff - and rapidly expanding impact on children's education in the developing world.

The new address is:
Room to Read
111 Sutter Street, 16th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: +1.415.561.3331
Fax: +1.415.591.0580

Room to Read Celebrates the Completion of
Its 5000th Library

Room to Read celebrated the opening of its 5000th library, established late last year, on March 2, 2008. This event marked a significant milestone in Room to Read's eight year history by illustrating its rapid expansion into developing countries as it moves toward its goal of reaching 5 million children by the year 2010.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by over one-hundred people including John Wood; Mr. Pradeep Nepal, the Education and Sports Minister for Nepal; Mr. Dinesh Prasad Shrestha, Country Director for Room to Read, and a group of Room to Read donors. The library at the Shree Gauri Shankar Higher Secondary School is located near Pokhara in the Kaski District, about 120 miles from Kathmandu.

John Wood and accompanying supporters were given a hero's welcome when they arrived at the 5000th library. They had the opportunity to see the library's 4,000 books, interact with eager young readers and speak with the librarian about the popularity of Room to Read's award winning Local Language Publishing Program.

In his keynote address, Wood lauded the Nepal team for their excellent performance over the years. He strongly emphasized Room to Read's mission to impact millions of uneducated children throughout the world. "Room to Read will not rest until we reach out to all those children that haven't had the opportunity to go to school," he said, repeating Room to Read's commitment to more than double the number of libraries established from 5,000 to 13,000 by the year 2010.

Room to Read Announces Two Exciting Additions to its Board of Directors

Room to Read is honored to announce the appointment of two new and highly respected additions to its existing seven member Board of Directors. Herb Allen is President of Allen & Company, LLC and Craig Bruya, was the Chief Financial Officer for Microsoft Business Solutions prior to his recent retirement after a 16-year career with the firm.

Allen & Company is a private investment firm founded in 1922, and is based in New York. Prior to his appointment at Allen & Company, Herb was with T. Rowe Price and Botts & Company Ltd. He is a graduate of Yale University and resides in Manhattan.

Craig Bruya was Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft Business Solutions at Microsoft headquarters since returning to the company in 2004. During a three year sabbatical he taught accounting and management classes to MBA students at Seattle University and the University of Washington. Prior to this, he spent 12 years at Microsoft in executive finance positions as well as nine years with the audit division of Arthur Andersen & Company in Seattle, Brussels, Belgium and Athens, Greece. Craig will provide mentoring to Room to Read's Chief Financial Officer, and will also chair the organization's Audit Committee.

Room to Read previously announced its first European Board member, John Ridding, the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Times. John is based in London and is the first European member of Room to Read's Board.

"We are thrilled and honored to have such great new additions to our Board," said John Wood, Founder and CEO of Room to Read. "As we march boldly towards our goal of bringing the lifelong gift of education to 10 million children across the developing world, it is critical that we continue to add talented and passionate people to our global team. A strong Board just got even stronger."

Room to Read's Board also includes Muneer A. Satter and Hilary Valentine (Co-Chairs), Marc Andreessen, Christopher Beer, Marjorie Craig Benton, Alastair Mactaggart and John Wood.

Events and Chapter News

Room to Read's Chapters are comprised of volunteers around the world dedicated to raising funds for our work! We currently have Chapters in over 30 cities around the globe and they are always looking for more volunteers to help them achieve their fundraising goals. To see if there is a Chapter located in your city, please visit the Chapters page on our website.

In February the Financial Times, in conjunction with Room to Read's Hong Kong Chapter, held the second Charity Wine Gala Evening in support of Room to Read. The event featured Jancis Robinson, the Financial Times' Wine Connoisseur and award-winning TV presenter.

Held at the Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong, the night featured an address by Room to Read Board Member and Financial Times CEO John Ridding, as well as a wine discussion and tasting by Jancis Robinson. The evening culminated with a charity auction of items that included Room to Read projects and resulted in the most financially successful Chapter event to date for Room to Read.

The event is a fantastic kick-off to what promises to be another outstanding year for Room to Read's Chapter network. In 2007 the Chapters raised over one third of Room to Read's operating budget - and in 2008 the Chapters have continued to set their fundraising goals high. As Room to Read expands its programmatic reach to provide educational access and opportunity to greater numbers of children, the support of Chapters and volunteers becomes even more important - and we need your help! If you would like to join our growing Chapter network, please download and complete a Volunteer Application from the Chapters page on our website and email it to volunteer@roomtoread.org. If your city is not on our list of Chapter locations, we would be happy to help you start one!

Girl Scholars Become Authors in Nepal

The first Room to Grow scholars began attending school in Nepal in the year 2000 and Room to Read now supports the education of over 750 girls in the country. Through this unique program, girls have the opportunity to learn not only the basics, such as reading and language, but valuable lessons in confidence and creativity. Last October marked the first time a group of Room to Grow girls collectively published their work in a Local Language Publishing book.

The work, titled "Hamro Prakriti" or "Nature: As Our Children See it" is a collection of twelve poems written by girls in the Room to Grow Program from various regions in Nepal. The girls, who attend primary to upper secondary school, were asked to write about the beauty of their surroundings. They created poems in Nepali on a wide variety of subjects including parrots, mountains, trees, rivers and the spring season. Our young newly published authors are: Geeta Chepang, Karishma Rajbamshi, Nisha Lama, Deepa Chepang, Puja Kunwart, Bishnu Khadka, Roja Karki, Rajeshwori Bohaju, Sabina Magar, Binita Karki, Merina Sainju, Laxmi Parajuli and Rubina Gurung. The book was funded by a donation from the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation.

The goal of the Room to Grow program is to motivate, educate, and empower girls. The program acts as a strong incentive for girls to stay in school and achieve. It also provides consistent and long term support to girls who often grow up in unstable environments. Their education allows them to take control of their future. This newly published book serves as a powerful example for other young scholars to reach for their dreams.

"Nature" by Binita Karki
Written in Nepali and translated to English

Oh! Green tree
Gives oxygen for free.

Oh! Clear river
Flows forever.

Oh! Sailing clouds
Thundering so loud.

Oh! Blooming flowers
I can walk among them for hours.

Oh! Lovely snow
Makes the winter glow.

Room to Read and Salesforce.com - Joining Forces

Room to Read and Salesforce.com continue to deepen a partnership that began in 2001 with its support of our first libraries in Vietnam through an employee grant. In 2005, the relationship continued with support of our post-tsunami work in Sri Lanka. Through a generous grant from Salesforce, Room to Read has been able to design and launch our new Global Solutions Database - a program database that will allow us to seamlessly track all of our 5,000+ projects around the world. Salesforce has generously donated 300 user licenses so that all of our in-country teams may actively use the database.

Salesforce was also a generous contributor to Room to Read's programs and overall capacity in 2007. We were honored to receive Salesforce's "Force for Change" award given to 10 non-profits globally as part of Salesforce's one millionth subscriber milestone; along with the award we received US$100,000 to support our growth. Moreover, Salesforce.com Foundation also awarded Room to Read a US$15,000 grant to support the establishment of a computer lab in Cambodia, giving over 1,000 students at Angsophy High School in Kampot province access to 21st century skills.

Room to Read would like to thank Salesforce and Salesforce.com Foundation for their generous ongoing support of our goal of reaching 10 million children throughout the developing world.

Castelleja School

This year Castilleja School, located in Palo Alto, California, is celebrating 100 years of women-centered education. A female-only school whose motto is "Women Learning, Women Leading," they wanted to celebrate this huge milestone by helping young girls in the developing world gain an education - by raising money for the Room to Grow Girls' Scholarship program. Their initial goal was to raise US$25,000 for scholarships, but after both John Wood, Founder and CEO, and Stephanie Scott, Manger of Chapters and Volunteers, spoke on subsequent nights of Castilleja's "Art with a Heart" Gala, they were able to smash through this initial goal and raise US$30,000 for Room to Grow! This donation will allow many more young girls to realize their dreams of an education - helping to break the cycle of poverty for themselves and their families.

Thanks to all of the students, faculty, staff and parents who helped over-achieve this momentous goal, and congratulations!

If you would like to learn more, please visit our Students Helping Students website.

We're Hiring!

As a result of our continued growth, Room to Read is looking to add great people to our San Francisco headquarters staff, including a Chief Financial Officer and a Chief Program Officer. Please visit the Career Opportunities on our website for a listing of all descriptions. Encourage your friends to join our fast-paced, results-oriented and fun work environment!

This Mother's Day - Send a Girl to School!

Helping a young girl in the developing world attend school is a perfect way to honor your mother or grandmother this Mother's Day, May 11th. Make a donation to the Room to Grow Girls' Scholarship program in honor of a loved one, and you will be able to download a beautiful Mother's Day card stating a donation has been made in her honor. Just US$250 supplies a young scholar with tuition, books, supplies, uniforms, mentoring and field trips for an entire year.

An education provides security and support to girls who often grow up in very uncertain environments and empowers them to make informed life decisions. A solid education beginning in the early years is the key ingredient for improved status for women, which provides a ripple of positive effects throughout society. To find out more about this amazing program, please visit the Girls' Scholarships page on our website.