About Us

We Believe that

World Change Starts with Educated Children®

Founded in 2000, Room to Read’s mission is to nurture foundational learning skills in children. Our contextualized approach develops children’s literacy and life skills in a dignified and gender-equal way. We nurture these essential skills in children by training and coaching educators, creating quality learning materials and spaces, strengthening education systems, and delivering programs directly and with partners — all while honoring the dignity of every child.

Quality education is an inherent human right and yet:

More than 773 million people cannot read; two-thirds of these individuals are women and girls.
Among 10-year olds living in low and middle-income countries, seven out of ten cannot read and understand a simple text and are considered to be living in learning poverty.

Room to Read envisions a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality, where all children have room to read, learn and grow — creating lasting change.

Accelerating Positive Outcomes Through Education

Strategy (2025-)

Room to Read will improve literacy, life skills, dignified learning and gender equality outcomes for more children, more quickly.

Through this strategy, we will institutionalize Room to Read as a leading implementer with a globally recognized and trusted brand. We will leverage our literacy and life skills programming toward accelerating learning outcomes for more children, more quickly. As a result, Room to Read will be respected as a valuable partner of choice for government, other system and program partners, as well as investors focused on education.

Over the next three years, we will:

Double the number of children we serve each year
Double the number of communities we support each year
Double the number of partners we work with

Highlights from Strategy (2025-)

READ OUR STRATEGY

Room to Read's Theory of Change

We work with children and educators, delivering quality programs directly and with partners. We also accelerate learning outcomes for more children, more quickly — by strengthening government school systems, other learning systems and associated partner programs in the areas of our core competencies. Through a focused learning agenda with targeted innovations, we are generating evidence of program quality and continuously evolving our materials and approaches. We believe that by using evidence-based materials and approaches, learning systems will enable all children to develop foundational learning skills, equipping them to create equitable solutions for the most pressing challenges they face — in their own lives, communities and the world.

25 Years Of...

Dignified Learning: Literacy & Gender Equality

Room to Read’s Literacy and Gender Equality programming addresses both access to and quality of education. We meet children’s learning needs in and out of the classroom, preparing them not only with the skills they need but with the treatment they deserve so they can recognize their self-worth and the value they bring to themselves, their families and their communities.

OUR PROGRAMS

Proven Outcomes: 45 Million Children Benefited

As a leading implementer, Room to Read has benefited more than 45 million children in 28 countries. That’s on average three children every minute since 2000.

Over the last five years, Grade 2 children in Room to Read project schools read on average more than twice as many correct words per minute than children in comparison schools. In a 2023 survey conducted among 5-year alumnae globally, 79% had either been enrolled in tertiary education and/or employed.

WHERE WE WORK

Trusted Excellence: Financial & Operational Awards

Room to Read is a globally recognized and trusted organization that has deployed more than US$950 million into improving foundational learning for children across the world. Our commitment to operational excellence has amassed 17 four-star ratings from Charity Navigator, and our impact has been celebrated by world leaders and organizations.

FINANCIALS

AWARDS

Globally-Distributed Experts: Our Workforce

Room to Read’s workforce includes a geographically representative and diverse group of staff, partners, board members, volunteers and ambassadors, all actively working to advance our mission. This community includes more than 1,200 staff across 20 countries in addition to thousands of additional stakeholders who help us achieve our mission. Local nationals lead our community-based operations in the countries we serve, from program design to implementation. Nearly 90% of our employees are located in the countries we serve.

LEADERSHIP

PARTNERS