Management Team
Erin Ganju — Co-Founder and CEO
Erin co-founded Room to Read, an award winning global nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education. As CEO, Erin has been instrumental in scaling the Organization by expanding into new geographies and by being a thought leader in program design. She currently manages worldwide operations across ten program countries and seven fundraising offices, and oversees a global employee base of over 500 people. Erin is an experienced international business development professional, having worked as vice president of business development for Dejima, Inc. and at Unilever N.V. and Goldman Sachs. She has spent extensive time working overseas, particularly in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore. Erin holds combined bachelor’s and master's degrees in international relations and economics from Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.
Joanne T. Chou — Chief Financial Officer
Joanne has over 20 years of experience in law, banking and international trade, real estate and corporate finance, investment management and marketing strategy. Prior to joining Room to Read, she was managing director of finance at MacFarlane Partners, a private real estate investment fund in San Francisco. In a prior position, she was also based in Hong Kong for five years, working with corporate clients in southeast Asia. She holds bachelor’s degrees in history and biological sciences from Stanford University, a J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the California Bar Association.
Lynn Foden — Chief of International Operations
Lynn serves as the Chief of International Operations for Room to Read, coordinating and supporting the teams, tools and systems for the efficient and effective implementation of Room to Read’s country operations. She has over 25 years of experience working in developing countries in the public, private and non-profits sectors. Lynn has extensive involvement developing strategic partnerships, negotiating agreements with governments and partners and overseeing operational implementations of programs. In her most recent role as Chief of Operations for the Africa Region of Peace Corps, Lynn was responsible for the strategic vision and daily operations for 27 countries, 30 direct reports, 3,500 volunteers and a budget of $90 million. Lynn holds a master’s degree in Law and Diplomacy with a focus on Economic Policy from The Fletcher School, Tufts University and a master’s degree in Business Administration, with a focus on Technology Management, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Cory Heyman — Chief Program Officer
Cory serves as Chief Program Officer, supporting Room to Read’s Habit of Reading portfolio (School Libraries, Book Publishing, School Construction and Reading & Writing Instruction programs), the Girls’ Education program, and the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation unit. Cory has acted as a close advisor to Room to Read since 2004, when he assisted in developing the organization’s first monitoring and evaluation study. Cory’s research and project work over the past 20 years has focused on strategies to increase access to quality educational opportunities for disadvantaged children around the world. Having worked at the nexus of public, private, and non-profit sectors, Cory has managed large-scale educational projects in the United States, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. He is the author of more than 20 academic and professional publications. Cory received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley and has a doctorate in sociology from John Hopkins University.
Dr. Geetha Murali — Chief Development Officer
Geetha is Room to Read’s Chief Development Officer and oversees all fundraising functions. In her previous role at Room to Read, she was Development Director leading Room to Read’s Corporations and Foundations team and supporting corporate partnerships in the US, as well as the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Tokyo and India. Geetha has had 14 years of diverse experience across the corporate and non-profit sectors. She has worked with pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Chiron as well with educational technology programs like the Digital Equalizer Program (American India Foundation) and Adobe Youth Voices (Adobe Systems Incorporated). During her time with the American India Foundation, she was responsible for several corporate partnerships with technology companies that supported the growth of the Digital Equalizer program into 13 states across India. Geetha received her master's degree in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master's and doctorate degrees in South Asian Politics from the University of California at Berkeley. She has also held an Adjunct Faculty position at Mills College.
Pierre Towns — Chief Talent Officer
Pierre has 30 years of experience in international human resources. Prior to joining Room to Read, Pierre co-founded and served as managing partner of Human Resource Capital Consultants Inc., a full-service human resources consulting firm serving both for-profit and nonprofit businesses. He has taught courses in human resources at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and California State University, San Marcos. Prior to running his own consulting business, Pierre worked for ARCO, a publicly held oil and gas company, for nearly 20 years heading up human resources and administration for ARCO Latin America, Caracas, Venezuela, which included Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and administrative studies from the University of California, Riverside, and a master’s degree from the University of Southern California.