Celebrating our partners in progress

Our implementing partners are aligned with the Room to Read mission; they have a clear track record of impact, strong systems and efficiency to support scale. They share our values and are committed to transparency, integrity and mutual respect. These organizations adopt a human-centric approach to programming and deeply value the culture and perspectives of local communities.  
 
Room to Read identifies implementing partners through a rigorous evaluation process involving research, proposals, interviews and site visits, drawing on our deep experiences in implementing education programs from around the world.

The community of Heka Leka, a Room to Read implementing partner in Indonesia.

To answer that question, we need to first examine the difference between our “deliver” and “accelerate” operating models.  
 
Under our “deliver” model, Room to Read directly, and with partners, implements programs with local communities. The deliver model offers a critical opportunity to continuously test and evaluate program improvements and innovations, while also showcasing the efficacy of our learning interventions to the government and other potential partners, with an ultimate goal to integrate best practices into entire public-school systems to reach more children.

Take the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF) in Jordan — a strong example of a strategic partner committed to advancing Arabic literacy. In 2020, QRF partnered with Room to Read to adapt and introduce the Room to Read library model to Jordan’s public schools, tailored for Modern Standard Arabic instruction. This collaboration led to the creation of 50 vibrant, child-friendly libraries, providing thousands of students with access to engaging Arabic books and reading spaces, and serving as a model for other schools in Arabic-speaking countries. 

Left: Room to Read Project Manager for the Middle East, Dina Elabd, center, stands with parnters from the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF) and the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) in a Room to Read and QRF-supported library in Jordan. Right: children enjoy an author visit from Taghreed Al Najjar in another Room to Read and QRF-supported library.
 

The focus of our "accelerate" model is to benefit more children, more quickly, than we could using a school-by-school approach. Room to Read and our implementing partners provide technical guidance and/or educational content to government or other partners as they improve policies, curricula, education delivery mechanisms and practices related to the implementation of their own programs.  
 
In 2024, for example, we partnered with three new implementing organizations in Africa — the Creative Center for Community Mobilization in Malawi, and the Girls’ Activist Youth Organisation and Polycom Girls in Kenya — to accelerate the reach of She Creates Change content and curriculum, helping us benefit more adolescent girls with life skills that promote gender equality. By partnering with these trusted local organizations, we can expedite positive learning outcomes for more children, and more communities, more quickly.  

Director of Room to Read's Gender Equality Portfolio in Africa, Zamaradi Said Islahi, second from left, with members of Polycom Girls, an implementing partner in Kenya.