I’ve loved books all my life, and know that a large part of the success I had at Microsoft and Amazon has been a direct result of my education.  So when my wife and I decided to spend 2009 traveling around the world, we knew we had to bring two Kindles with us so our two daughters and we could read and learn.  Over nine months we visited 19 countries, teaching English in China, volunteering in Viet Nam, working on sheep farms in New Zealand, and tutoring our children along the way.

It was during a visit to Guayaquil, Ecuador’s Perpetuo Socorro girls’ orphanage, that I realized the profound impact e-readers could have on the way the developing world READS.  At the end of a long day, we came across a semi-abandoned building. Through the windows I could see piles of books.  It was the orphanage’s library—and when I asked to see inside, the Director told me she wasn’t even sure she had the key.  The girls had completely lost interest in the books inside.  The crazy juxtaposition of my own family with access to all the books in the world and the situation these children faced children drove home the opportunity to change the world. It reminded me of a conversation I’d had with my friend Colin McElwee about e-readers in the developing world.  So as I finished the trip and sat down with Colin to talk about what to do next, Worldreader was born.

As Worldreader’s President, I’m responsible for its strategic direction and operation.  Our mission is to bring books to everyone in the developing world using e-reader technology.  We’ve had great success in Ghana, where 500 teachers and students in six schools use e-readers we provide, complete with hundreds of local and international books, training, and support.  I’m super-encouraged by our early results: students now spend up to 50% more time reading than before we began, and for every two books we send to e-readers, students download an additional book, magazine, or sample over the cell-phone network.  In Kenya’s Rift Valley, we  started training 70 primary students and teachers. Just today one of our volunteers reported that the students stayed two extra hours into the evening because they were so engrossed in the books!  In both countries, we have worked with publishers to digitize local books so that local industry is helped, and local culture is respected.  In fact, Worldreader now has access to over 250 books that students can read for free in our program, including some of the world’s first-ever e-books in Kiswahili.

Our goal is that by 2015 we have touched the lives of one million new readers in the developing world.  To do so we’re trying to work hard, be smart, and get things done—the Microsoft hiring code re-purposed for the social enterprise world.  In just over a year we’ve partnered with two governments, over 20 local and international publishers, companies like Amazon.com and mEdge (who provides free cases and lights), USAID (who funds our measurement and evaluation), and donors from around the world.  We intend to use this partnership approach going forward to expand our program across Sub-Saharan African and ultimately entire the developing world, bringing books to all and giving the tools to children and families everywhere so they can improve their lives.