Room to Read Blog

Two Girls in India Find Themselves on the Path to Success, with Help from 10,000 Women

Last week, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three groundbreaking women from developing countries for their role in advancing both peace and gender equality. All three are shining examples of the link between shared prosperity and greater gender equality in leadership.

But despite the progress made by women like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman, leadership roles in the public and private sector still remain elusive for women in developing countries. For many young girls, especially those in rural or underserved communities, the paths to running one’s own business or earning a descent wage are riddled with roadblocks.  

“Why is it that only men open shops and sell medicines,” asks Shaheen, a 10^th grader from our Girls’ Education program who dreams of owning her own pharmacy. “I want to change that and help serve my community,” she shares at an entrepreneurial skills workshop held outside of New Delhi.

A recent addition to the life skills curriculum of our Girls’ Education program in India, the entrepreneurial skills workshops were developed in partnership with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, which which provides business and management education to underserved female entrepreneurs in developing and emerging markets.

For girls like Shaheen, the workshops, which include a four day sleep-away camp, provide a unique opportunity to explore career goals and gain the skills needed to achieve them. The participants meet with successful local entrepreneurs who help them navigate concepts such as financial literacy, effective leadership, partnership, resource mapping and market research.

One of Shaheen’s classmates, Monica, has also come away from the entrepreneurial skills workshops with a clear view of her future. “I want to open my own boutique,” she says with newfound confidence.

Monica had the chance to share her dream with US Ambassador Melanne Verveer, who promised to buy an Indian outfit from the boutique once it’s up and running. Monica explained that with her family’s support, she hopes to be able to build a business that not only provides her with a comfortable living, but also employs others in her community.

Because support from family is crucial to the girls’ success, the entrepreneurial skills workshops also include informational sessions and meet-ups for parents. “My daughter is very intelligent and listens to whatever we say,” shares Mrs. Monika, whose daughter, Sweta is in 11^th grade. “Thus it is our duty to support her to fulfill her dreams.”

Read more about our Girls' Education program and our work in India.

Guest Blog from John Wood: Kicking off the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative

The excitement is palpable as the world descends upon New York for today’s opening of the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). I’ve been lucky enough to attend CGI on behalf of Room to Read for the past five years, and now sit on CGI’s Advisory Board. Every year I’m in awe of how the forum has turned into a catalyst for game-changing partnership and collaboration in the field of international development. Each year, I leave with new connections and new ideas that we have been able to implement to make a difference for millions of children across the developing world.

This year’s CGI will be no different. Room to Read will unveil an innovative report, the inspiration for which was born at a meeting convened by CGI last spring. At the meeting, Cory Heyman, our chief program officer, met with representatives from FHI 360 and Amenons Nos Filles á l’Ecole (ANFE), two other nonprofits working in the field of girls’ education. Despite the multitude of organizations around the world dedicated to girls’ education, they noted, there has been very little research dedicated to identifying the factors that contribute to girls’ success in reaching higher education.

Together they questioned: If we know that gender bias, safety concerns, early marriage, pregnancy and financial disadvantage are major roadblocks to tertiary education, then what are the success factors that can help girls in the developing world overcome them? In other words—let’s not focus on the barriers, let’s learn about the real-world solutions that actually work.

As the idea for a study identifying such factors began to take shape, The MasterCard Foundation, with whom we first connected at CGI 2010, stepped in to provide guidance and financial support—kicking off six months of rigorous research.

The fact is, even under the most challenging conditions, there are young women across the developing world charting new territory and taking the bold step of seeking higher education. We wanted to hear from them—in their own words—about the factors that were positively contributing to their success.

Our team conducted in-person interviews with 160 of these trailblazing young women in Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India and Mauritania, and found that despite political, cultural, and economic differences between their communities, the girls identified very similar success factors as being instrumental in their ability to reach university.

The young women we met shared personal stories that illuminated their common attributes of determination and courage. Many cited the encouragement of their families, teachers and communities as being paramount to their success, coupled with the material and emotional support they'd received from nonprofit organizations.

For Room to Read, these findings will help shape our Girls’ Education program curriculum, which we’ve built out over the years to go beyond financial support and to include extensive life skills training and mentoring as well as family and community engagement.

By releasing the final report at this year’s CGI Annual Meeting, we hope that these girls’ voices can reach across borders and help shape best practices in the field of girls’ education for years to come.

Read the complete report, Through Their Eyes, In Their Voices: Young women in five countries share their experiences navigating tertiary education, on our website.

Tune in tomorrow at 3:20pm EST to watch John Wood answer your questions live from CGI in an interview with Randi Zuckerberg broadcast on Facebook.

Three Ways to Celebrate International Literacy Day

Many of us don’t spend much time thinking about how literacy affects our life, but maybe we should…

Imagine being one of the nearly 796 million people worldwide who lacks the ability to read or write. It would make deciphering the contents of an employment ad, taking the proper dosage of medication and filling out a ballot form all nearly impossible.

The bad news is that most of those 796 million people live in developing countries, where access to a quality education can be extremely limited, so their children and grandchildren are likely to continue in the same path. The good news is that doesn’t have to be the case.

International Literacy Day is September 8, and Room to Read will be celebrating all month long by spreading awareness and raising funds to fight illiteracy in the developing world. Here are three things you can do to help:

1. Make a donation. Thanks to our partner, Better World Books, all gifts to our library program in September will be matched up to $40,000. That means that your gift and all others like it will have twice the impact!
2. Spare 140 characters. In today’s world, information travels fast…if you can read it, that is. Help give the twittersphere a taste of what a world without literacy would look like by tweeting an “illiterate” message to your followers with the hashtag #RTforLiteracy. For each tweet, Random House, Inc. will donate $1 to our programs (up to $30,000).
3. Educate yourself. Watch an interactive video about global illiteracy (produced in partnership with Credit Suisse's Global Education Initiative), or read about our work in Asia and Africa in our most recent newsletter. Then go out and spread the word!

And don’t forget to celebrate your own right to read this month.  Take the time to curl up with a good book, and remember what it is that made you love reading so much in the first place.

Read more about International Literacy Day on our website or refer to UNESCO.

Inspired to do more? Learn how to start your own fundraising campaign for Room to Read.

Guest Blog from John Wood: From Yak Bells to Closing Bells

From the earliest days of Room to Read, we have enjoyed a tradition of ringing a yak bell from Nepal in honor of each significant victory. Be it an investor funding a new school, a program milestone like our 10,000th library, or having made a key hire, the yak bell provides an opportunity for the Room to Read team to pause during very long days, take a deep breath, and celebrate with our colleagues.

This week, there is a new bell to ring–the daily closing bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange. 

One of the key reasons for Room to Read’s meteoric growth during our first decade has been the support of the business and financial communities. Companies like Atlassian, Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, Caterpillar, Credit Suisse, the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs and Jones Day have embraced our model of using education to empower people across the developing world to help themselves. Executives from such companies have joined our global Boards, hosted fundraising events, and been active members of our chapter network in 56 cities around the world.

 
  So it is with great pride that today Room to Read has been invited to ring the closing bell on the NASDAQ stock exchange. I am delivering the lunch keynote today in New York at an annual shipping industry conference called Marine Money on the topic of “Why Capitalists Should Care about Education in the Developing World.” Each year, the Marine Money team is invited to  ring the bell as the day’s frantic trading comes to a close. I was completely surprised last week when the event organizers emailed to say, “We’d rather see Room to Read in the spotlight, and have the world learn more about your team’s great work.”

And what a spotlight it will be. My short remarks, along with the bell ringing, will be streamed live online here. It will also be broadcast in New York’s bustling Times Square, via a 100-foot tall electronic billboard. Hopefully it will inspire the business community to continue to think big about the power of education to change lives.

The first time I delivered a yak-load of books to schools on Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit over ten years ago, I could never have imagined our little start-up receiving such an honor. From yak bells to the closing bell–we couldn’t have made it this far without you, our incredible community of passionate supporters. Go team!

 

Learn more about our corporate partners on our website.

Let's Make A (Groupon) Deal...for Girls' Education

Did you see the Room to Read deal in your inbox this morning? We hope at least some of you 33 million Groupon subscribers noticed! For the next five days, Groupon will be running a "deal" on our Girls' Education program—just in time for you to purchase that last minute Mother's Day gift.

Join us and Groupon's G-Team and donate $10, $25, or $125 to help Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program support the education of the next generation of young women in eight developing nations. The deal is being matched by our friends at Atlassian up to $100,000.

What do these amounts translate to on the ground? For every $125, one girl will get a year of comprehensive support for her education and life-skills training. When 500 people sign up for the deal (and we hit the minimum amount of donations needed to make the deal official), it means that at least 40 girls will receive one year of support. Each additional $10 raised will provide two weeks of academic support for one girl.

Special thanks to Groupon and our matching partner, Atlassian, maker of software development and collaboration tools and a long-term supporter of Room to Read through donations from its Starter License program.

The deal is going on now through Sunday, May 9. Please spead the word and let's close out this deal, because not only is it a great gift for mom, it's also the best investment you can make to change a girl's life.

Cricket Players Come to Bat for Literacy: World Cup Stories from Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka

 
Cricket is practically a religion in South Asia and cricketers are no less than gods. The adulation and fanfare must be seen (and experienced) to be believed, and it is difficult for non-cricket playing countries to begin to understand the rock star status of these players.

With cricket being the second most popular sport in the world, Room to Read was thrilled when the International Cricket Council (ICC) named our organization as their charity partner for the 2011 ICC World Cup. Additionally, through a unique initiative, Reliance Life Insurance, one of India’s top private sector life insurance companies, committed to a 25,000 rupees donation (approximately US$550) for every “sixer” or boundary that the cricketers hit. So far, 132 sixes have been hit which translates to over 3.7 million rupees donated (US$82,000). With each six, you can imagine the cheers coming from our country offices in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka -- countries hosting the World Cup games!  

In an effort to draw attention to Room to Read's work and encourage donations, the ICC coordinated special events with both cricket players and students participating in Room to Read programs. Reliance Big FM, with a special "Hit Illiteracy for a Six" segment, Big Cinema, Big CBS and various other Reliance ADA Group platforms are being used to promote these interactions widely.

Reena Luke, Room to Read Asia Regional Communications Manager, attended the events and shares some of the unforgettable moments. For these children, meeting and spending time with their sports heroes was a dream of a lifetime. And even for the millions of children unable to attend these events, the support of ICC, Reliance Life Insurance and the global cricket-loving community will fulfill their dreams of becoming educated young adults.

* * *

Tigers Celebrate International Mother Language Day in Bangladesh

  When the World Cup opened in Dhaka, Bangladesh, our Room to Read Bangladesh country office was ready to pitch! Just after their big game with India, the Tigers (the Bangladesh team’s nickname) were ready to take a break, and Room to Read invited them to celebrate International Mother Language Day on February 21 with hundreds of young children at the Pora Khela Utsob (Reading Festival) at the Kishalay Girls School and College in Dhaka.

The names of the players were kept secret until the last minute, and the entire community gathered to greet them at the gates of the school which was decorated with tents and colorful bunting. The invited students managed to squeeze their way past the adoring crowds and, after a security check, anxiously awaited the arrival of their favorite players. Each time the huge iron door creaked open, there was a collective gasp of anticipation, and children pulled out their autograph books and ran towards the gate.

Finally, after a couple of false starts, in rolled a cavalcade of cars with police escorts. Three cricket stars—Zunaid Siddiqui, Mahamudulla Riyad and Shariar Nafees—stepped out and immediately faced a wall of waving autograph books eager to be filled. Without wasting much time, the young heroes took to the field and ran with the children, took part in “Read and Run” games, signed more autographs, posed for photographs, visited all the booths, talked to the kids, and flipped through Room to Read’s local language children’s books. Shahriar Nafees even managed to give a brief pep talk to his young fans, “I want each of you to focus and read better. Reading requires practice like cricket, and to excel, one needs to practice.”

All too soon, it was time to say good-bye. The cricketers handed over prizes to the winners and gifted the school a full cricket kit. Said Mahamudulla, “It was a good experience, and I enjoyed the afternoon with the kids. I am happy to see that these young children are getting such good books to read.”

Eighth-grader, Zoya, exclaimed, “I will never forget this day. Imagine—I got to shake Zunaid’s hand!”

Girls' Education Scholars Practice Their Interviewing Skills in India

 
Across the border, in India, the ICC arranged several opportunities for Room to Read India to showcase their work to cricket lovers. Several match venues had Room to Read booths, filled with books and displays inviting book lovers to sponsor our reading programs. Aside from the matches, the big event of the World Cup was when four of Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program participants—Ishan, Ruppu, Renu and Moushmi—got an exclusive interview with Virat Kohli, India’s upcoming star cricketer and the nation’s heartthrob.

For these young girls, all from the Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalaya school in Tuglakabad village in Delhi, a trip to Bangalore by flight just to meet their favorite Indian cricketer was stuff that dreams are made of. And Virat made sure that they would remember this day all their lives by playing cricket with them, signing autographs and, of course, getting photographed with them. He even promised that once he was over with the hectic match schedules, he would visit their school and help to champion Room to Read’s cause. Said Virat to his young fans, “I am happy I got this opportunity to promote Room to Read. I would like to continue doing whatever I can to promote literacy and reading.”

Virat wasn't the only cricketer the girls got to meet. In the evening, the girls were taken to the stadium to watch the England cricket team practice. A sudden rain shower proved to be a blessing, for the players had to run for cover, and the girls knew how to grab an opportunity. Soon the English team was signing autographs and talking to the girls. Ishan even dared to ask the English captain about his strategy to defeat the Indian team! The captain threw up his hands and ducked to the nearest exit!

The BBC crew filming the event took the opportunity to meet the girls and learn more about Room to Read, and within minutes of the cricketers’ departure, the girls and the crew were fast friends. In fact, after a quick broadcast lesson, the crew found themselves on the other side of the camera being interviewed by the teenaged amateur camera-persons and reporters!

 

Shane Watson, Room to Read's ICC Ambassador, Teaches Fielding and Encourages Reading in Sri Lanka

March 3 is a day 10 children from central and northwestern provinces of Sri Lanka will never forget—for that is the day that they spent several hours with Australian cricket star, Shane Watson.

  Shane has been named Room to Read’s official ICC brand ambassador and, between World Cup matches, led a coaching session with the excited group of children at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. The children, all participants in Room to Read programs and all very avid cricket fans, received individual coaching about fielding from Shane, and one exclaimed, “We can’t even believe that we are practicing with Australian cricketers. Our worry is that no one would believe that we got such an opportunity!”

 
Reading has been a big part of Shane’s life since childhood, and he is anxious to help other children discover the joy of books. He humbly explained, “The cross section of people that cricket reaches means that we are able to reach a lot of people and promote the work Room to Read does. It is very special that we have the chance to impact people’s lives away from cricket. Hopefully we can touch as many people’s lives as possible and provide them with a chance to benefit from some of the things that we have been lucky enough to have.”

The end of the afternoon held another great surprise, as each child was given a personally signed photograph of Shane and a ticket to watch the match between Pakistan and Canada. Shane, too, was equally as moved when the children presented him with a picture they had created for him.

The event was covered by Yahoo, ESPN and Star Cricket. ICC also posted a short video that was screened pre-match on March 5. 

***

 
Room to Read will be featured on billboards, scoreboards and other events throughout the 2011 ICC World Cup which culminates with the finals on April 2. Visit our website to learn more about Room to Read’s World Cup partnership.

Read more through the ICC press release and Reliance Life Insurance's Facebook page.

Brrr-aving the Antarctic to Build a Room to Read Library

Room to Read donors often come up with the most creative ways to raise money to support our work. Last December, Frank Rohde, CEO of a software company in San Francisco, ran a marathon in Antarctica to raise money for Room to Read. In this guest blog, he shares his impressions and experiences of this breathtaking trip.

* * *

When the Russian cargo plane touched down on the blue-ice glacier near the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica, I knew that this adventure was getting serious. After having waited six days on the southern tip of Chile for weather clear enough to fly across the Drake Passage, the group of 37 runners I had joined on this trip finally got the “all clear” to take off. The flight from Chile to Antarctica took only four hours but it was four hours into an expanse that defies description. Larger than all of Europe, colder than any other place on earth, windswept and desolate—but with 24 hours of daylight. No one really knew what to expect, so when the doors of the plane opened and the stepladder was put onto the ice, my breath was taken away—by the biting cold as well as the magnificent views. I stepped onto the ice filled with excitement about the next four days in Antarctica.

The reason I was here was to compete in a marathon—or at least to reach the finish line—and in the process raise enough money to build a Room to Read library in South Africa. I’ve been a runner since I was a teenager and I complete at least one marathon every year. Last year I came across the Ice Marathon in Antarctica organized every year by a guy in Ireland named Richard Donovan. So I thought: here is an opportunity that allows me to combine a visit to the interior of Antarctica with camping on ice for a week and a real physical challenge!

After I signed up, I told a couple of friends and colleagues about my plans and got the same reaction from all of them: “You’re nuts!” I soon realized that this adventure was outrageous enough that I could use it as a charity fundraising vehicle, and remembered Room to Read from an article I had read in the Financial Times a year earlier. If I could raise $1000 for every mile in my marathon, that would cover the cost of a library. I spend a lot of time in South Africa every year for business and have grown very fond of the people there and decided to support a library project near Dutywa in the Eastern Cape in South Africa.

In addition to running, one of the things I’ve been doing religiously for almost 20 years is reading at least one book every week. I’ve always had an affinity for books and actually bought an old shipping container to store my own library! Of course I had brought a bunch of books on the trip to Antarctica, but now that I was here I forgot all about reading—this place was too exciting.

We spent the first day in Antarctica acclimatizing and on the morning of day two, we learned that because of the strong winds, the marathon was postponed one day. So, we filled the hours by sharing our own personal stories, and I learned that almost everyone was also raising money for a charity.

My fundraising strategy had focused on two groups: corporate donors and individuals. I had asked each of our clients to donate to Room to Read in return for branding and exposure during my run (their logos were on the running shirt I wore), and raised about $20k from institutions like Nedbank, ABSA, Bain Capital, Red Rock Ventures, Kobold Watch Company, and Silicon Valley Bank. I raised the rest of the donations from friends, colleagues, family, and other individuals. The day before the marathon, I had met my goal of $26,200 and with several donations from fellow runners and others, I ended up raising over $30,000 by the time I returned from my trip.

The marathon start was set for day three at 11am, and there was lots of excitement and several photo shoots that morning. Several of the stronger runners took off right away, while I fell into a comfortable trot towards the back of the pack. My goal was to reach the finish line and leave the winning to someone else. For the first two hours of the run, the weather was overcast and cold, but not too windy. The only challenge was staying close to the orange flags that had been planted in the ground every 50 meters because the visibility was pretty poor. After about 10 miles, the weather cleared up and we had blue skies and bright sun. As the sun warmed the snow, the running became tougher, and my feet kept slipping and sliding—but I surprised myself by finishing in five hours and 34 minutes and coming in 11th!

 
I know I wasn’t the only one who was proud of having achieved a physical challenge that day. But what I am most excited about is that I was able to use my own, somewhat selfish pursuit to help Room to Read build a new library for the school children in Dutywa. And now, on to the North Pole Marathon…

Frank's campaign has raised over $30,500 and is still accepting donations on our website. Not everyone can run a marathon, but there are many ways you can set up your own fundraising campaign and get involved.  

 

Library Supplies Hit the Road: Zambia Team's Creative Transport Solutions

At Room to Read, our entire staff subscribes to a roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic that we refer to as “GSD” (Get Stuff Done). Because many of our programs exist in very remote areas, even the most basic tasks, such as delivering furniture and books, become incredibly challenging. In order to get stuff done, our country teams often have to be creative and innovative in their implementation approach. Arnold Mumena, Reading Room Program Officer in Zambia, shares some of the creative transport solutions he devised in order to ensure the children in Zambia have well-stocked libraries.

* * *

As a former teacher for almost 18 years, I was very excited to be hired as one of Room to Read Zambia’s first employees in 2007 because I firmly believe that access to education is critical for all children. However, the cost of doing business in Zambia is very high, which means our library program expenses can be costly, including the transportation of our supplies. Though most Room to Read offices can rely on community partnerships, in Zambia, we generally use the direct implementation approach and, except for limited help from the government, we do it all ourselves.

In 2010, we expanded into Kafue, a district south of Lusaka. The district is vast—almost 500 km, butting to the east with the Republic of Zimbabwe and to the west with Zambia’s central province. The eastern part is hilly with mountainous features such as the Zambezi escarpment and Munali hills, creating scenic beauty but also pushing the costs of road construction and maintenance very high. To get to our projects in the east, one has to first travel along the bumpy hill roads, then cross the Kafue River by river pontoon and drive through a wild animal park before finally reaching the schools where our libraries are situated.

After surveying more than 50 schools in the area, I decided that in order for the Reading Room program to succeed—especially in the remote lower Zambezi area—our team needed to get creative, which meant it was time to involve partners! I organized meetings to introduce the Reading Room program to the local community and invited many people, including the staff from ZAMBEEF. ZAMBEEF is an international food production company in Zambia and West Africa. They have vast estates where they grow soy beans and corn and also have many cattle ranches all over Zambia.

Their engineering manager, Mr. Banda, attended one of our meetings and was so excited about the library program, he offered to help. ZAMBEEF trucks come to Lusaka fully loaded, but then generally head back out to the provinces empty. Why not fill the empty trucks with library furniture to distribute to our new libraries?

In September, the first batch of furniture was ready for dispatch. I called Mr. Banda and asked if they could help with transporting the furniture. He didn’t hesitate and immediately asked for quantities, location of our office and when the trucks could come. The next day, a huge truck pulled up in front of our office, so I gathered as many people as I could to load the truck with tables, chairs, bookshelves and boxes and boxes of books. ZAMBEEF delivered the furniture to all schools, traveling over hills, across the river and through the wild animal area without any breakage. They even paid the pontoon fees!

We received a larger, second batch of furniture in October. The rains were threatening, and we had no storage space, so we had to get the furniture to the schools before the rains wreaked havoc. I decided to make a trip to the Zambia army headquarters and request transport assistance. Major Chipili called back the next day and committed to send a truck the following week. As promised, a military truck with a group of soldiers pulled up to our office—coincidentally, two were librarians from the base—and soon the truck was loaded with furniture and on its way to make deliveries to several schools. They even returned to our office for a second load!

While great progress had been made, there was still furniture to be delivered. Next, I called the Zambia police, who responded by making a delivery to a school. Then I thought of the schools themselves and contacted the head teachers, some of whom worked with the PTA and community, to pay for a truck to deliver the furniture and books for the children anxiously awaiting access to their new library.

Looking back, our team not only saved on transport costs and prevented our furniture from getting ruined by the rains, we also learned an important lesson about asking for help—from local business, the military and the schools themselves. Partnerships make us more effective in our work and connect us to our community. The Zambia team will continue to walk on the partnership path.

Learn more about our programs in Zambia on our website.

Visit Zak the Yak in His New Digital Home!

He’s hairy and hoofed
And trapped in a book,
But our friend Zak’s new home
Is on the web; take a look!

With color sheets and mazes
And tongue twisters galore,
Zak’s new site will inspire
Your little ones to do more

Like learn about our work
Or start their own page
Or maybe take Yak-tion since
Giving back’s all the rage

Zak’s online debut is really quite fun,
So hoof on over and enjoy
“For the sooner you start,
Then the sooner you’re done!”

Please give Zak a nice housewarming gift and visit him in his new online home!

Special thanks goes out to the Atlassian Foundation for their site design.

Guest Blog from Board Director: Room to Read's Numbers Tell the Story

Craig Bruya, former CFO of Microsoft Business Solutions and audit manager with Arthur Andersen & Co, and now a professional philanthropist, has been actively involved with Room to Read since 2002 and joined the Board of Directors in 2008. From the perspective of both an investor and a board member, Craig shares his thoughts as to why numbers matter, how Room to Read is getting it right -- and how the world seems to be finding out about it.

* * *

In 2002, when I was first approached by John Wood, a former colleague at Microsoft, to get involved with helping to develop a financial model for Room to Read, I did what every self-professed number-cruncher does: I reviewed their financial statements, budgets and five-year plan.  Eight years later, I find myself happily ensconced on the board of an organization that has grown exponentially, both in revenue and results.

As the head of the Audit Committee, I work closely with Room to Read CFO, Joanne Chou, and her skilled staff of finance and accounting experts, and with pencils sharpened, we continue to refine and improve procedures to keep our efficiency level extremely high. Apparently it’s working, and word is getting out.

Last week, Barron’s, a publication targeted for a financially-sophisticated audience, included Room to Read in their second annual “25 Top Givers” list. This list calls out individuals and organizations that get big results from their donation dollars and this year, includes the standard heavy hitters of philanthropy with Bill Gates, Jr. at #1, Bill Clinton at #8 and Oprah Winfrey at #21. And, I am proud that among that list is John Wood/Room to Read at #9, up two positions from last year -- and one of the only on the list that didn’t start out as a billionaire or celebrity-led endeavor.

We also learned last week that we had qualified for membership in a very elite group in having been awarded Charity Navigator’s four-star (the highest) rating for sound fiscal management for a fifth consecutive year.  Only 6% of their rated charities can claim this five-year streak. Charity Navigator is the recognized report card for U.S. charities, and each year, 5,500 nonprofits are evaluated on various criteria, including levels of overhead, direct program spending and program results.

So what exactly do these honors mean? Simply put, they mean that Room to Read has developed a formula for growth and efficiency that is rarely seen in the nonprofit (or even for-profit) world. That formula, which includes innovative thinking, transparency, diversified funding and planned growth, attracts investments from business giants such as Credit Suisse and Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs, as well as individuals looking for a philanthropic partner who can take their dollars and turn them into a tool to change the lives of children. Investors know they can trust Room to Read -– which is why, in an economy that is challenging at best, Room to Read managed to grow its revenue by over 20% last year and is on target to do the same in 2010!  As an accountant, I love to see great revenue growth, but as an investor I take greater comfort knowing that we are helping many more children gain the lifelong gift of literacy.

What’s Room to Read’s secret? That’s just it –- we don’t have secrets. One of our core beliefs is transparency, which means that all the books are on the table –- data about donation totals, project expenses and program results are updated regularly and made available to all of our key stake holders, including staff, board, volunteers, donors and potential donors.

Of course, it helps when you have good data to report, which, in general, we do. Thanks to our “cheap and cheerful” mantra, more than 80 cents of every dollar is funneled directly into our program work. That being said, we don’t believe in being penny-wise but pound-foolish. Room to Read invests in the necessary infrastructure that allows our worldwide team to excel at their work. It costs money to build accounting systems and donor management systems and to monitor and evaluate our programs to make sure that they are cost effective and getting the desired results. We work hard to strike a careful balance between donation efficiency and infrastructure investment.

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Bangladesh, India, Zambia and South Africa to see our programs at work. It is one thing to be impressed with our numbers and to be happy that we are a well-managed organization, but it is a very different thing to see donor dollars in action. The children are thrilled to be learning -- and they are sharing their new-found knowledge with their families. The experience was life-changing, and my commitment to the organization has never been greater. I know of no investment with greater return than that of educating a child.

Read more about Room to Read's recent honors on our website. And, consider giving a unique gift this season through our Room to Read’s Holiday Gift Catalog where your gift can help share education with children in Asia and Africa. Plus, through the end of December, all online donations will be matched 100% up to $500,000.