Technology Business Leader And Entrepreneur Tim Koogle To Become Co-Chair Of Room to Read’S Board Of Directors

Room to Read is delighted to announce that Tim Koogle, venture capitalist, respected technology business leader and founding CEO of Yahoo!, has been nominated to become co-chairman of the Room to Read Board of Directors, a role he will share with board chairman, John Wood.

The formal vote by will take place during the Room to Read annual board of directors meeting in March, 2011.

Koogle joined the organization’s board of directors in 2010 after having been a supporter of Room to Read’s work since 2008, and following his participation in the “Trek to 10,000” expedition to celebrate Room to Read’s 10 year anniversary and 10,000th library opening in Nepal.

“I love working with young, fast-changing organizations and sharing what I’ve learned over the years to help them find ways to grow and change the world,” said Koogle. “Room to Read has already achieved incredible things. And, at the same time, there is an almost unlimited need still to be filled in the developing world in removing the barriers to both literacy and gender equality. That represents an incredible opportunity to have a positive impact on the world. And, it is one in which I feel incredibly honored to be able to help.”

As co-chairman, Koogle will focus heavily on Room to Read’s internal operations to ensure the organization continues to “scale with quality” as it enters its second decade with a goal of tripling in size. Koogle brings to the role his vast knowledge and experience in taking companies to global scale that includes a well-established 25-year career in the technology business. As the founding CEO and chairman of the board of directors at Yahoo! Inc. from 1995 to 2001, and sixth employee hired, he helped build the business into a leading Internet media company with annual net revenues of over $1.2 billion and thousands of employees.

“I have always said that I do not want to be the leader of an organization, but instead to be one of many leaders of a movement. Having Tim join me as co-chair of the Board is a ‘movement moment,’ and it fits perfectly with our strategy of building one of the best leadership teams in the NGO world,” said John Wood, Room to Read Founder and Board Chair. “Because Tim has an incredible background in operations and is based in the Bay Area, he will be more internally focused. This will allow me even more time to expand my ambassadorial work for the organization around the globe. All of us look forward to working closely with Tim to take Room to Read to the next level, and beyond.”

Since leaving Yahoo!, Koogle’s business and engineering acumen has placed him at the forefront of innovative investments in early-stage technology and consumer product companies. He is the founder and CEO of Serendipity Land Holdings, LLC, a private land development company and the managing director of The Koogle Foundation, a private philanthropic organization focused on the education of underprivileged youth. Additionally, Koogle serves as chairman of the board of directors for Method, Inc., the environmentally-sensitive cleaning products company, and he sits is on the board of the publicly held investment banking firm of Thomas Weisel Partners Group and a number of other private startup companies in which he is a venture investor.

Koogle received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and holds a master’s degree and doctorate in engineering from Stanford University. Room to Read's Board of Directors also includes John Wood, Christopher Beer, Craig Bruya, Scott Kapnick, Kim Anstatt Morton, Jerry del Missier, Fernando Reimers, John Ridding and Hilary Valentine.