John Wood

John Wood is the Founder of U-Go, a non-profit organization that aims to help ambitious and promising young girls in low-income countries to pursue tertiary education by providing financial scholarships funded by individuals and corporations in high-income countries.

Prior to U-Go, John founded Room to Read, one of the fastest-growing social enterprises in history. Room to Read has brought the lifelong gift of education to 20 million children in 17 low-income countries. Prior to this, John served in numerous executive positions with Microsoft, including as Director of Marketing for APAC and Director of Business Development for the Greater China Region.

John has written five books, including Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, which was named by Amazon as one of the ten best business memoirs of the year. At the invitation of President Bill Clinton, he served four terms on the Advisory Board of the Clinton Global Initiative. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, and a former member of YPO San Francisco. He was named by Goldman Sachs as one of the world’s 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs, was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Tribeca Film Festival, and was awarded the World Children’s Prize by Queen Silvia of Sweden.