The Prime Sliver: Half Full, All GOOD.

After the kick-start to my blogging efforts and sharing some of the recent work I've finished (posted on "A Sliver of Humanity"), I'm taking a step to improve the efficiency and clarity of the various blogs I've got open on the Dashboard.

A step in that direction is to fold "The Sliver" into another blog I created previously but hadn't spent much time with.  

"Half Full, All GOOD" was a phrase that came to my mind some time ago as perhaps the most succinct description of the attitude I try to maintain, and energy I try to share with those around me.  

The gist of "The Sliver" was to share positive stories found in our shared humanity. The  Half Full, All GOOD Blog will do just that:   

Encourage others to...

Think Positive.  

Maintain a Positive Perspective.  

Find good things where ever and whenever you can.  

Look on the bright side.  

And bundle all that GOOD up, to share it with everyone around you.  

Such a path in life will create more GOOD.

Merging these writing efforts into one blog will also simplify and strengthen consistency of the good stuff I aim to share.

So, thanks for reading the Slivers of Humanity.  The positive voice will continue via "Half Full, All GOOD" -- halffullallgood.blogspot.com

All the best!

I Believe In Relationship

From my "This I Believe" submission in 2006. Didn't make the cut with NPR, but wanted to offer it as another sliver here.

I believe in relationship. 

With people and places, experiences and emotions, plants and animals; with old shirts, ball-caps, music, writing and cooking. I’ve searched for it in all endeavors, and have only been really satisfied with an experience when I’ve managed to secure a foothold, a rapport with the people and things around me. I’m relatively sure that I can’t be alone in the feelings I have associated with this idea: connecting with the temporal world we live in. As I reach middle age, however, I’m very certain that I’m more sensitive than most when it comes to the practice. For me it means survival, success, and inner peace.

Whether it’s the first time or only time, meeting someone, or visiting with a friend I’ve known all my life, I always am in flux until I’ve felt the sense of that certain comfortable something that tells me I’m connected to the other. For me relationship is the way to get the most out of the present and is a primer for the future.

On the grade school playground, in the many classrooms of my life, the wrestling room, football field, committees, the fraternity, the swimming pools of summers past, teaching swimming, then later teaching English to Soviets. In Santa Clara, in Moscow, in Rivas Nicaragua, Beijing, Florence or Munich or Hong Kong, in South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, or Morgan Hill, all the experiences in all those places have become worthwhile to me only and ultimately through relationship. 

Like most everyone I’ve had my share of successes and failures. I’ve tried to learn what I can from all of them, tried my best to savor the successes; persevere and even gain something through the failures. I am certain that it’s been my relationship with both the good and the bad that has solidified my attitude toward both.

I recently went through a divorce. I only reached a sense of peace and acceptance of the loss through the support of the many good people that let me share the experience with them, relate with them, and thereby process my complicated thoughts and feelings. It was also only by reaching a new, truer relationship with my ex-wife that I was able to find closure in the marriage ending, and begin a promising, connected relationship with someone new. 

When I consider this attitude juxtaposed to my faith, it all makes even more sense to me: connecting with others, befriending others, helping others. God in all things and in all people. My relationship with the world around me strengthens my sense of proper path, somehow brings me a bit closer to the Divine.

I believe in relationship. It is the surest indicator of my place in time and space on this Earth, speeding along with everyone else toward the most we can get from life.

Mobilizing Young People to Save the Planet: One woman’s mission to inspire youth, not to be leaders tomorrow but today.

“So much accomplished in so little time!” That’s what I thought when I first learned about Esperanza Garcia, her life and her work. A graduate student at Columbia University, president of the Columbia University Coalition for Sustainable Development, Philippine delegate to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaker, blogger and mother – this twenty-something keeps herself busy, and she certainly seems up to the task!

Garcia, a native of Cebu City in the Philippines, decided early on that there is no time like the present to think big and make a difference in the world.

A social media maven, she has a blog – www.ecohope.blogspot.com – two facebook pages,  a strong Twitter presence and an amazing top 5 percent ranking on the about.me user/web presence list. Garcia is able to utilize these social media channels to share her stories, efforts and opinions.

Inspired and mentored by many, including her “family of leaders”, such as her aunt, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, and grandparents, Judge Esperanza Garcia and Congressman Pablo Garcia who was also a three-term Governor of Cebu, Esperanza has it in her DNA to lead.

Another pivotal figure in her life, a man she calls her “second father”, Rajendra K. Pachauri is a global champion fighting for climate change who has helped shape her attitudes about the matter. (Dr Pachauri is chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and head of The Energy and Resources Institute.

Humaneity Magazine caught up with her in the United States as she began her final year at Columbia:

What is the focus of your graduate program  and how do you plan to integrate that course of study with your already well-established leadership presence in the various causes you’re involved with? 

“I am furthering my education in sustainability management so that I can eventually lead a global sustainability organization. Leading international and local youth leadership organizations via starting/leading Columbia University Coalition for Sustainable Development, Philippine Youth Climate Movement, and International Youth Council, consulting in the Philippine Senate Climate Change Committee, negotiating for my country in international climate negotiations (via United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC), and managing UN program development have prompted immense personal and professional growth.

Yet, these experiences also underscored the need to be knowledgeable about finance and business to be an effective leader in renewable energy, especially in developing countries.

I am pursuing Columbia’s Master of Science in Sustainability Management (MSSM) Program to continue developing the skills I need to achieve goals.  I am scheduled to finish the degree this academic year, 2012-2013.   I am very motivated by the program’s unique interdisciplinary system that lets students create their own curriculum within the framework of economics, public policy, financial management and sustainability management.

This platform will enable me to focus on renewable energy while gaining knowledge and skills in business and finance. Sustainability represents the biggest challenge and business opportunity of the 21st century and the MSSM program teaches the economic benefits and long- term value of improved environmental efforts and sound business decisions.

In the long-term, after working overseas, I will move back to the Philippines and apply my management skills in the private-public sector to promote economic and cultural growth in my country.”

When and why did you adopt climate change as a cause to which you were committed?

“I began my activism when my daughter was born.  I became a single mother at 18. Though I was just a teenager, I saw the world differently. I was not only concerned for my future, but hers as well.  At the end of the day, this is about the future of our children.

Getting to where we need to be means transforming our world. It means building solar arrays instead of coal plants, planting trees instead of clear-cutting rainforests, increasing efficiency and decreasing our waste.  These actions, and many more that would together create a long-term solution to the problems overall, would be easier if we have a global treaty grounded on the latest science and built around the principles of equity and justice.

To get this kind of worldwide agreement, we need a movement of people who care enough about our shared global future to get involved and make their voices heard.” 

What is the connection between inspiring young people and fostering sustainability?

“I attended international climate negotiations as a member of the Philippines delegation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009 and in Cancun, Mexico in 2010.  There I spoke not only on behalf of my country, but also on behalf of my generation.

World leaders negotiate our future, but most of them are twice, thrice our age. The youth came to Rio+20 [and at other, similar summit events around the world] to have their voices heard. Young people need to take an active role to let their voices be heard in decision-making platforms and focus on having stronger representation in international climate negotiations.  

It was certainly a great honor to experience a summit of such magnitude…and it proved how crucial it is that we globally and collectively find common ground to tackle the disastrous effects of climate change and find sustainable solutions. During these engagements, young people converged from around the world to put pressure on the world’s governments.”

What was one of your early experiences that shaped your current attitudes and passion?

“When I was working for the Philippine Senate Oversight Climate Change Committee, my job entailed visiting schools and universities all over the country, engaging and educating young people on climate change.

In four months, we reached out to over 50,000 young people, searching every region, school and university for Climate Heroes.” I was working during the Philippine elections from January to May of 2010 when the El Niño phenomenon hit the Philippines. It was very interesting to be actively engaged in a developing country at this time, to see the harsh impacts of climate change, and engage with those affected by it.

After working in the Philippine Senate in 2010, I was a Development Associate for the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation organizing the Youth Assembly at the United Nations. There, we engaged hundreds of young people from all over the world who were seeking practical ways to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals [eight international development goals that were defined as a result of the Millennium Summit of the United Nations held in 2000.]”

Through this gathering the delegates benefited from the opportunity for global networking, and also to develop their social entrepreneurship skills.  They also gained valuable, first-person experience of working within the framework of the United Nations.

I was also involved with the International Youth Council, [another organization focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals] where we provided young people who will be the leaders of the next generation with the training, resources and opportunities they need to succeed, bring together and support other young leaders from around the world.

My local (home country) and international experiences differ. It is much more of a challenge to discuss climate change in a developing country like the Philippines, where most of our audience is concerned about putting food on the table at the end of the day.   

I founded the Philippines Youth Climate Movement (PHilYCM) to help educate the youth in my home country about climate change and ways in which people can adopt better, day-to-day practices to the impact of climate change.  That organization continues today in local communities to increase awareness and inspire young people to make a difference.”

How do you juggle your personal life as well as your work?

“Despite my work and studies, my child is, above all, my top priority. I am incredibly blessed and lucky to have supportive parents. Without their support, I would not be able to achieve all that I have done.

I became a single mom at the age of 18. My parents understood the importance of receiving a quality education. While I have been away from the Philippines pursuing an education, they have been helping me raise my child back home.

I try to spend my Christmas and summer breaks with my daughter. I believe that to build the good life that my daughter deserves, I need to establish myself and my career first. She also would not enjoy the same quality of life if she were in New York with me as a single mother and full-time student.”

Concluding the interview, Garcia defines everything she’s trying to do via a simple, personal statement:  “I always end my speeches saying: ‘I have a 6 year old little girl. I worry about her future. I am not doing this for you. I am doing this for her. There is no better reason to fight than her future.’” 

---

“Humanity and the Meaning of Life - We’re in This Together”

When my friend Mark Philpott invited me to write a guest piece for his blog, I was immediately stoked.  He said something like, “You can write about anything having to do with humanity, the meaning of life...” How could I pass up THAT invitation?!   

Such a big, sweeping word it is.  Humanity. Humankind. The Human Species.   And what a wide-open topic:  The Meaning of LIFE.

For me these two things are definitely connected.  So many facets, so much stacked layer upon layer behind the ideas, and yet they come together like a hand in a glove for me.  The meaning of life?  Connecting to our common humanity. All of us.  The whole shooting match.  Being open to the rest of the something like 7 billion on the planet now. How do we do that?  One relationship at a time.  

The question is, do we, each of us, choose to embrace it, or reject it?  Stay engaged or walk away?  If you consider your own practice, and those you observe by people around you, it’s probably safe to say it’s a mix.  I suppose that’s natural.  For sure, everyone needs time to themselves sometimes.  Quiet time to reflect, recharge, we all benefit from this practice periodically.  

At the end of the day though, I believe it’s the relationships with other people that bring depth, learning, diversity, value, MEANING to each of our lives.  Spending time with people you love, and people you like, and people you don’t know well yet but might know better tomorrow...being open to the magical spark of a new friend, or that from an old friend, that’s a good maxim to live by.

You’ve no doubt heard it said about material things -- clothes, toys, houses, cars, you name it -- “you can’t take it with you.”  Another saying that might well be the other half of that idea is, “In the end all you’ll have that matters are the experiences you had in your life and your loved ones, and when you’re gone, your memory only lives in others.”

There’s a very practical side to this whole idea as well.  We all have our ups and downs.  There will always be those folks who have more than we do, and those that don’t have as much. It’s a continuum.  Each of us has been on both sides at some point, most likely.  After all, even Bill Gates has slipped from the top of the Wealthiest Person on Earth List (though I understand he just was named #1 again).

The key point here is that by connecting, understanding, appreciating others, we’re better off, on both sides.   She who reaches out to make the initial effort, and he who finds a fresh understanding in new friend’s eyes.  That is what matters, that is what is important, that is what is priceless.

There’s another angle to entice you to look at the people you meet every day, familiar and stranger alike, with a fresh perspective and twinkle in your eye:  the diversity of our humankind is ASTOUNDING.  The cultures, religions, politics, attitudes, experiences and perspectives that essentially make each of us who we are.  THAT should be embraced, rather than mocked or attacked due to ignorance or intolerance.  

We’re all the richer, each of us, by learning about another person, another perspective, another life experience.   Here’s an example.  Earlier this week I heard on the radio a story about a Cambodian-American artist named Bochan Huy, and her “musical mashup to share her music and bring the elders and youth of her community closer together”, as the reporter explained.  

I was quickly taken with her story, her approach, her motivation, and also intrigued by the music itself.  If I wasn’t open to new music, and a person’s story from a culture I know next to nothing about, I would have lost the opportunity to enjoy a musical genre I wasn’t even aware of.  And I learned a little more about one particular Asian ethnic group. The bonus? Later that day, I connected with Huy via Twitter.  Pretty cool.   And that connection added depth and value to my day, my life. Awesome.

[If you want to see/hear the piece from the radio:  http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/05/15/120854/oakland_performer_unites_cambodian_transplants_with_music?category=bay+area]

Consider this benefit also.  Fellowship with other people nurtures a depth of self, happiness of soul, and connectedness.  You never know where you’ll find it, so being open, ready, and willing is the key.  Giving people a chance to drop their guard, return a smile, make good on the common humanity we all share.   

Take that approach and your life will be better than you thought possible.  Take that approach and we might just have a ghost of a chance to reconnect our societies, and make this world a better place.  After all we’re in this together, and each of us can make a positive difference in others’ lives. Along the way, we’ll be better off too. That’s what it’s all about.

There's always another classroom -- An education provocateur makes a difference by helping others learn

What do Israel, Palestine and Providence, Rhode Island (US) have in common? All have provided Charly Adler , 56, the opportunity to learn, teach and inspire young people to help themselves and make the world a better place.  

Originally from the US, Adler has traveled to more than 40 countries in his lifetime, so he knows something about the world around him. Having lived and worked outside the US for 14 years, engaging in various endeavors, in the places just mentioned as well as some others, this self-proclaimed “project junky” is still pursuing the next best chapter in his fascinating life. Why? So as to seek and give inspiration to and from the youth.

You might call him a socially-minded, education provocateur. Because throughout his life, Adler has made a difference by helping others learn. That’s his motivation. Indeed, if you talk to Adler, it won’t take long to see the energy he draws from, and gives back, when connecting with young people, in whom he sees endless possibilities. There is a lot of humor as well. As Charly puts it, “It’s all about finding a way to trigger curiosity, to empower kids, and hopefully to inspire them to ‘do some good’, ya know?”

Adler believes in offering students a path so they can take ownership of their education; bridge the socio-economic divides they face; experience creative, in-depth learning; and develop the skills they need to be successful in the world. Not limited to traditional western/American educational philosophies, Adler seeks environments that align and build on the educational ideas he has worked with and developed throughout his life as an educator. 

His background

The son of immigrants from Israel, Adler grew up in a Jewish-Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. “Like any good first-generation Jew, I was expected to become a doctor or lawyer. When I graduated I enrolled at the State University of New York Binghamton, which was basically the Ivy League for immigrants at the time.”

Adler’s college studies likely formed his approach as an educator later in life. He studied European history, focusing on the period from 1880 to 1940, following an inter-disciplinary curriculum that included art, literature and architecture. He began     connecting the dots, getting excited about the content, and going deeper into the “why” and the “do” – inspired and eager to learn.

Rather than go to medical or law school after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979, Adler found himself taking the road less traveled – what was meant to be a six-month stay in “mysterious Paris” on a scholarship became four years of wandering and working odd jobs in several European countries. 

He spent time as a soldier in Gaza in Israel, and even worked on Arab-Israeli relations for none other than Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem for several decades. All these experiences shaped Adler – his beliefs about people, young, old and in-between; and his fresh approach to problem solving and all the associated possibilities of folks trying new things, keeping an open mind, and staying engaged in the world around him. 

He was also involved in Operation Moses in northern Israel, which helps bring Ethiopian Jews out of Sudan to escape persecution. Helping bridge the gap for immigrants, one of Adler’s projects was to help establish and run a cultural center in the area.   

The children

During his time in Israel, Alder began working with children, which is perhaps how his enthusiasm and focus on young people was born. Hired as a grant writer for the Jerusalem Foundation, he never actually had the chance to write even one proposal. Soon after coming onboard, Mayor Kollek sent Adler to a meeting on Jewish-Palestinian relations.  As Adler explained, “At that meeting, I got on so well with my Palestinian counterpart during that meeting and a couple follow-ups, that they asked me to work on community-relations with Palestinians instead.”  

Meant to establish and strengthen relations between the ethnic groups in Jerusalem, these projects often involved Jewish and Palestinian children. “We did treasure hunts and art projects with the kids, and other activities. The idea was to build, a common ground for the kids,” said Adler – in effect, building bridges and friendships between Arabs and Jews. 

For Adler, “education is ‘organized curiosity’.” As he puts it, “It’s harder to hate people  you’re interested in, people you’re curious about, those you believe you can learn something from.” Offering great insight into what makes him tick, these simple concepts are the foundation of his philosophy on education.

Shortly after finishing his Masters in Education in 1998, Adler signed on as an advisor at the original Met School (http://metcenter.org)in Providence, Rhode Island. This school would serve as a proving ground for education innovators, Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor. Together these two educators created school environments much different from what teens in America have been used to: No chalkboards, textbooks, or lectures. Instead the schools are guided by the basic principle that children learn best by doing meaningful work that engages them.  

Adler was part of the team that produced the world’s first graduates of the Met School, which operated (and still does!) on the fundamentals of students taking personal responsibility, more parent involvement and individualised curricula. This tremendous success would spur Adler forward as an education innovator himself.

Considering Adler’s core beliefs about learning and his experience at the Met, it’s no surprise that he spent much of his education career in Big Picture Learning (BPL), the non-profit company that Littky and Washor founded to start the first Met school.

At BPL, he’s held various roles: As advisor, principal and senior education consultant over a 12-year period. During this time, Adler helped transform schools into places where “authentic and relevant learning happens”, as he puts it, “so the kids flush the victim mentality, and so they have a stake and a sense of personal responsibility in their education.” It’s all about empowering students with knowledge so that they can make a better future for themselves.

His next step

Most recently in April of this year, Adler accepted the position as principal at the Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India. The school represents in many ways the Indian equivalent of BPL, focusing on students in a different way, empowering them and teaching them to be responsible for their learning. Unfortunately, due to visa issues, that assignment came to a sudden end. He returned to the US in September, the quest for his next opportunity as an educator underway.

As Adler continues down his professional path and into his third decade as an educator, he remains excited about the possibilities and is energized by the challenges that lie ahead. For him, the learning will continue, as will inspiring young people to not only improve their knowledge and understanding but to also gain experience, follow their passions, share their enthusiasm.  “I want them to do more than learn, that’s fine, but you’ve got to share what you learn, you’ve got to do good.” No doubt students around Charly Adler will!

In the Wood - A US entrepreneur mission to educate the world's children

If you think about some of the biggest names in the American (as well as global) technology sector over the last 30 years – Allen, Gates, Grove, Hewlett, Moore and Packard – you’ll notice that many have parlayed their business acumen and professional success (and wealth) to become great philanthropists. 

By providing leadership, and certainly seed money (or directly underwriting a majority of the initial funding), these professionals founded non-profit foundations to provide resources in areas of their interest and where they felt attention was lacking. Most philanthropists begin their philanthropic endeavors in the waning years of their careers. John Wood, however, didn’t wait that long.    

As an up-and-coming marketing executive for Microsoft in the early years of the company’s booming growth, Wood was on the rise as a key commercial leader for Microsoft as it expanded in the Pacific region. During and in the wake of a trekking vacation in the Nepalese Himalaya, he identified two key factors that would change his life: There was a dramatic and urgent need for education that was going unaddressed in places like Nepal, and he wanted to do more with his life than sell software. That was in 2000. 

Twelve years later, the organization he founded as result of this twin epiphanies, Room to Read (RTR), has opened 1,556 schools and 13,152 libraries; published 707 books and distributed 11.3 million more; benefited six million children, including 15,388 girls that have participated in educational programs specifically for them (these statistics are updated quarterly and found both in John Wood’s email signature and on RTR’s website). These successes have taken place in Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tanzania and Zambia. Not resting on its laurels, RTR aims to extend its reach, improving literacy for 10 million children by 2015. 

Given his travel schedule (which you’ll read about below), it was no easy feat connecting with Wood for this interview. However, thanks to e-mail, the Internet and great coordination from his office, we were able to connect for a virtual discussion about his work and RTR’s journey:  

First off, I was pleasantly surprised about your earliest efforts with your father, his membership in his local Lions’ Club, and how that channel helped with the initial shipment of books via the Lions Club in Kathmandu.

Has RTR maintained a connection with the Club in Kathmandu? Given core themes of “co-investment”, sustainability and community involvement, one would think these are good channels for long-term support.  

Yes, we have remained in contact with the Lions’ Club and many [Lions’] members in Nepal have become RTR volunteers. Being a Lion myself, it was no surprise that the network had been helpful to the cause of this fledgling effort, but good to hear about Lions’ in action all the same!

What is RTR’s approach to interacting with the Governments in the countries in which you operate? Do you have partnerships? What have been the challenges? And what strategies do you employ to deal with what’s often a thick web of bureaucracy?     

We act as a non-governmental charitable organization. Because we work in public schools, we partner with Governments to implement our educational projects, but we are not involved in the politics of these Governments. After creating and testing our approach to education in Nepal, we began to identify other countries in the world that faced similar educational challenges and for which our programs are well-suited to address.

Together with our partners in the field, we work closely with local and national Governments to help shape educational policy. For example, recently, RTR successfully lobbied Cambodia’s Ministry of Education to adopt nationwide school library standards that included minimum material criteria and increased salaries for librarians.

We balance indicators of a country’s need for our programs (such as high rates of poverty, high inequality and low literacy) with a gauge of a basic threshold level of peace and stability that are necessary for us to effectively conduct our work. Additionally, we prioritize countries where the Governments have demonstrated a commitment to education so that we can help support and augment their positive efforts. We then supplement our high-level analysis with on-the-ground research and conversations, networking with other organizations, and meetings with in-country officials to determine our final country selections.

The core of volunteerism to keep RTR running is the people network. Can you share how you and your management team keep volunteers motivated?

Our chapter network, the enlistment of 10,000 volunteers in 59 cities who are committed to fundraising and raising awareness about RTR, helps ensure we use every dollar contributed as efficiently as possible. Many of our chapter members are seasoned business professionals who have read my book, “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World”, and looking to find a way to pay it forward and give back. We continue to be thankful for their tireless support and contributions, and view this network as an extension of the RTR staff.

I have made a habit of sending what I call, “glory mails”, to praise and give timely and public thank-yous to volunteers that have achieved a victory for RTR.

Each year, we gather our chapter leaders for a Chapter Leadership Conference, providing a retreat for these members of the RTR family to be updated on our programs, messaging, organizational growth, fundraising strategies and share best practices among their fellow chapter members. I’d encourage your readers to get involved, starting with checking out our chapters’ network www.roomtoread.org/chapters and my book www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/. You can also check out the organization via Facebook: www.facebook.com/roomtoread.

Last year, RTR celebrated the 10,000th library opening in the place where RTR began, Nepal. How does RTR manage the many stakeholders engaged in the 10 countries to maintain not only the brick and mortar of the buildings, but also the management, volunteers and personnel?

RTR feels it is important that communities have complete ownership of the schools and libraries, and we have a strict selection process to ensure that schools are likely to maintain the facilities and sustain them on their own.

We work with schools for three years to help train librarians and support the infrastructure. We implement libraries in schools that have committed school management, ensure that there will be a library period, and support having a librarian in the library. Anecdotal evidence indicates that our schools and libraries continue to be used beyond our funding period, sometimes with additional support from the communities themselves. We are now conducting a study to examine what happens to RTR libraries when our three-year funding period ends.

You spend 300 days a year on the road and you’ve been at it with RTR for more than 10 years now, doing what you love. You shared some personal reflection in the “Life’s a Mess” chapter in your book. So, how have you changed to stay fresh, passionate and let’s not forget, take care of yourself?

Running a global organization requires an incredible time commitment, with management responsibilities piled atop a frantic travel schedule. I work more today than I ever did at Microsoft; I fly 150,000 miles a year. At the same time, I receive much more fulfillment from my work. Being in a rural village on the day the parents, elders, students and teachers come together to celebrate the opening of a library or school; I don’t think anything could be closer to Nirvana for me. 

Exercise plays a critical role in my wellness routine, whether I’m in Tokyo, London or San Francisco, I schedule time for running and exercise.

What are your top three cities/routes to run around the world?

Running is a key part of my routine in any time zone. When I’m home in New York, I love to run along the Hudson River Greenway with a view of the Statue of Liberty. In Tokyo, I run by the Imperial Palace and in Hong Kong, I enjoy trail running (especially with Martin Cubbon, CEO of Swire Properties, who is a great tour guide!). All of these running sites are equally inspiring and provide a great atmosphere to reflect on next steps for RTR.

 Can you share what your management style is?

I lead by example and strive to be proactive and productive – always getting things done. I believe that those that join RTR appreciate my work ethic and are inspired to emulate it.

[WRITER’S NOTE: As noted earlier, passion is another characteristic that Wood stresses as key to sustained effort, long-term success, and work satisfaction. “Passion for the mission”, as he puts it. This feeling translates to employees that care deeply about every facet of the organization’s operations, and thus immerse themselves in the details to accomplish the established goals.

Coupled with the passion to achieve results, Wood also shared another key trait he adopted from his time at Microsoft and committed to instilling in RTR from the beginning:  loyalty.   

As he explained in his book, “my own ways of showing loyalty to employees are simple and straightforward, and will never win me any awards for innovation. I believe collectively, however, they show everyone working for Room to Read that I am looking out for them.”]  

What is RTR’s strategy on social media?

When RTR first began our social media odyssey, our first stop was Twitter, as it had selected us as its first Corporate Social Innovation partner in 2009.  Since then, it’s become the cornerstone of our larger social media strategy, which includes Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. We also host the RTR blog (http://blog.roomtoread.org/).

Social media has allowed us to deepen engagement with current supporters by making it easier to share stories of impact and organizational “wins” in real-time, but it’s also helped us to connect with like-minded individuals around the world that may have never heard of RTR before. We are proud to have been named one of the top 20 non-profits on Twitter and have amassed over 560,000 followers.

One innovative use of social media has been our International Literacy Day Twitter campaign in September. The campaign’s goal is to give the twittersphere a glimpse of what the world looks like to the 793 million people worldwide who cannot read or write. In order to do that, we began circulating an “illiterate” tweet the week of International Literacy Day with the hashtag #RTforLiteracy, and an embedded link that allows readers to view the unscrambled message on our website. We have had a corporate sponsor in the past donate US$1 for every tweet or retweet that includes the hashtag and have raised substantial funds to support our programs. We’re always looking to engage with more supporters, so follow @RoomtoRead, @johnwoodRTR and @ZakNepal!

[WRITER’S NOTE: RTR’s Facebook page has had nearly 25,000 hits (“Likes” in the FB vernacular), the organization’s YouTube channel has 49 videos posted, and their LinkedIn page has nearly 2,000 followers.

It all comes together in one goal: getting things done in some of the most impoverished countries on the planet to improve literacy, given children a better opportunity for education, and thereby improve the world we live in.  No doubt that’s happening. The fundamental differentiator for RTR and John Wood is the relentless pursuit of positive results and using every donation dollar to maximum benefit. It’s all about the results.] 

If you could change anything over the last 10 years of RTR, what would it be?

I am not sure that I will ever be certain that my impact has been significant enough. We’ve reached over six million students thus far, but that is just the tip of the iceberg when you consider that there are nearly 800 million people in the world today lacking basic literacy. In the early days of RTR, we should have hired more people, more quickly, though that is tough when you have no endowment and no budget at the beginning. We also should have started local language publishing projects earlier. There are millions of villages that would love to work with us. To reach them, we need a lot of capital. We have the model, we have the people, we just need capital. That sounds simplistic, but just because it’s simple does not mean that it’s not true. If we had the capital, we could build a lot more schools, establish more libraries and endow more long-term girls scholarships.

Name three people you emulate and why?

My role model in philanthropy is definitely Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie used his good fortune to create a network of libraries that has impacted countless lives across several generations. We are building a similar, larger network clear across the developing world. Carnegie did just under 3,000. We are over five times that number and counting. 

I’m also a big fan of Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health. I have not met him, but after twice reading “Mountains Beyond Mountains”, he’s become one of my heroes.

Finally, I admire Sandor Teszler, a great mobilizer of social change in whose honor I recently received an award at Wofford College. Teszler, an immigrant who escaped a death camp during WWII, was one of the first in the textile industry to desegregate mills in the US. Late in life, he attended college and his passion for education established his legacy in academia.

What succession plan do you have (if any), for RTR's leadership to remain strong and stable, long into the future?

In 2009, I transitioned from CEO and stepped up into a new role as co-chair of RTR’s board of directors. This decision was a mark of strength and confidence in the leadership within the organization. Erin Ganju, co-founder and former chief operating officer, seamlessly assumed the role of CEO and has been successfully overseeing the day-to-day operations of RTR and expanding our reach.

I believe the sign of a good founder is to get out of the way when the organization has grown to a certain point in its evolution. The management restructuring has accelerated RTR’s growth and global expansion to fulfill our promise of educating millions of the world’s children. 

I now focus all of my efforts on traveling around the world to raise awareness and funds for RTR, long-term strategy, global board development, and public speaking. Due to this succession plan, I have been able to build new regional and advisory boards around the world – in the UK, New York, Australia and Asia-Pacific – to augment RTR’s trajectory.

(WRITER’S NOTE: After concluding the virtual interview with Wood, I came away with a few fundamental values that define who he is: Keep your commitments, be creative and maintain a positive attitude towards making a difference in the world, and think big along the way. These maxims can surely carry the day if we let them do so.

The question is, “What is your inspiration?” Whatever it is, take specific actions in pursuit, and you’re sure to get results. Wood is living proof that approach works wonders!)

Paul Farmer & Partners In Health: One man’s perseverance to help eradicate tuberculosis in Haiti, Peru and Russia leads to collaboration and better healthcare for people.

You would be hard-pressed to find two countries seemingly more dissimilar than Haiti – small, impoverished nation located in the Caribbean Sea – and Russia – former 19^th-century empire and Cold War adversary to the US, and recent heavy-hitter in the energy sector. However, these two countries have at least one characteristic in common: Both have impoverished people who have been woefully under-served when it comes to healthcare.  

Among the people who have answered the call to help those in need in both countries is one man, Dr Paul Farmer, and his organization, Partners In Health (PIH). (Dr Farmer was the subject of Tracy Kidder’s novel: “Mountains Beyond Mountains”.) Together, Dr Farmer and PIH passionately pursue the dual goals of providing healthcare to the poor and teaching communities how to help themselves out of poverty.

Farmer & PIH
It all started with one man’s vision in the 1980s, and his awareness of the extreme poverty and corresponding healthcare needs of the poor in Haiti. In the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, the humble efforts of a few has grown into one of the best models for delivering healthcare and helping low-income communities develop services to continue that care in the long term.

Dr Farmer’s intense interest and focused commitment to help the poor in Haiti developed while he was a medical student in New England. In fact, during much of his free time as a student at Harvard Medical School, Dr Farmer would pack his books and travel to Haiti’s Central Plateau to work with the poorest of the poor. “I can’t sleep,” Dr Farmer explained, “there’s always somebody not getting treatment.”

His work in the Central Plateau provided the impetus for founding the not-for-profit organization PIH in 1987 with a few other committed partners soon after graduating from medical school with a focus on infectious diseases and medical anthropology. The group defined their mission clearly and succinctly. As the organization’s tagline declares, their efforts would be toward “providing a preferential option for the poor in healthcare”.

Farmer with an elderly Hatian patient (image courtesy of Partners in Health)

In addition to Haiti – and at the urging of longtime supporter Father Jack Roussin – PIH expanded its efforts to tend to the long-ignored needs of the poor residents in Carabayllo, a shantytown district near Lima, Peru. It was here that PIH first encountered tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).   

Into Siberia they go

It would be this specific work with TB and MDR-TB that would lead to PIH extending its reach far beyond the Western hemisphere to Russian Siberia a few years later. PIH entered Russia in 1998 when they identified the opportunity for research and treatment of MDR-TB in that country. As Dr Farmer explained, “We went back to [the Gates Foundation who had provided grant funding for other projects] and said, ‘Look, you know, there’s a very big problem [with MDR-TB] in Russia as well’,” asking for their support. As result, the grant that provided funds for efforts in Peru was reworked to provide services in Russia.

PIH initially had a narrow medical focus – but vastly wider geographic focus – in Russia than any of its other projects. From a base in the region of Tomsk Oblast, Siberia, PIH began collaborating with the Russian Ministry of Health to combat one of the world’s worst epidemics of MDR-TB.

In partnership with the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities (DSMHI) at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US, PIH focused on improving clinical services for MDR-TB patients in Tomsk while undertaking training and research to catalyze change in the treatment of MDR-TB across the entire Russian Federation. No small endeavor!

These joint efforts got a major boost in 2004, when PIH and DSMHI helped their partners in Tomsk secure a five-year US$10.8-million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for efforts to improve prevention, diagnosis, as well as treatment of TB and MDR-TB.

Doctor with TB patient (image courtesy of Partners In Health)

Key components of PIH’s clinical efforts include improving diagnostics in order to detect cases earlier, developing a comprehensive strategy to promote adherence among patients, improving infection control in hospitals and clinics, and decreasing transmission of TB to HIV-positive patients. PIH’s work in Tomsk also encompasses health education for the public, as well as clinical and program management training for medical personnel.

In 2006, PIH launched Project Sputnik, an outreach program to improve the reach and consistency of care needed with MDR-TB patients who were either not receiving care or, more likely, had refused treatment in the past.

Dmitriy Taran, Sputnik’s project director, confirms the meaningful results they’ve realized, explaining, “The application of effective patient management is at the core of our success.” PIH has seen far fewer patients slip through the cracks as a result. As one patient said emphatically upon being asked about the project’s efforts, “We need this program, we need Sputnik.”  

PIH Russia also supervises a treatment program that targets prison colonies in the region specifically intended for inmates with TB.  Such population-specific focus and response with needed resources are making a difference to reduce the spread of the disease as well.

Patients receive TB medication in clinic (image courtesy of PIH)

PIH’s positive effect has indeed spread beyond the Tomsk Oblast. As reported recently by Natasha Arlyapova, PIH-Russia’s summer program for young scientists (a program that is now in its fourth year) is helping set a new standard in public healthcare throughout Russia. What started as a fight against a deadly epidemic has grown into helping one of the world’s largest countries improve the quality of life via better care for its people.

Dr Farmer’s good work certainly has grown considerably these past 30-plus years, from Haiti to Peru to Russia, and other places where the poor remain the most marginalized and vulnerable to killer infectious diseases.

SIDEBOX:
Quick facts about tuberculosis (from the World Health Organization):
• Overall, one-third of the world’s population is currently infected with the TB bacillus.

• Five to 10 percent of people who are infected with TB bacilli (but who are not infected with HIV) become sick or infectious at some time during their life. People with HIV and TB infection are much more likely to develop TB.

• WHO estimates that the largest number of new TB cases in 2008 occurred in the Southeast Asia region, which accounted for 35 percent of incident cases globally. However, the estimated incidence rate in sub-Saharan Africa is nearly twice that of the Southeast Asia region with over 350 cases per 100,000 population.

• An estimated 1.7 million people died from TB in 2009. The highest number of deaths was in the Africa region.

• In 2008, the estimated per capita TB incidence was stable or falling in all six WHO regions (Africa, the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia and Western Pacific). However, the slow decline in incidence rates per capita is offset by population growth. Consequently, the number of new cases arising each year is still increasing globally in the WHO regions of Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.

MORE INFORMATION:
Partners In Health – wwww.pih.org/