Spring to Action One of my fondest memories of spring in Tokyo is running a six-kilometer loop around the Imperial Palace through the large Sakuradamon Gate.  Some cherry trees were in full bloom and others were falling like snow.  I passed a group of children carrying new backpacks and [...]

How to Remain Action-Oriented Optimist As Founder and Executive Chairman of Room to Read, I am often asked what’s the best part of my job.  Meeting world leaders like Bill Clinton? Being interviewed on NHK? Meeting top business leaders around the world?  All of these are great, but none compare [...]

Failure is not an Option I love Tokyo in the winter!  Last week I was invited by the International Ladies Benevolent Society (Kokusai Fukushi Kyokai) to the Italian Embassy to talk about Room to Read.  The audience included 21 Ambassador’s wives and dignitaries all sharing a deep concern for [...]

High Fashion Meets Education What does high fashion have to do with Room to Read? A lot these days! This holiday season Room to Read has partnered with three luxury retailers at events which have contributed enough to build over eight pre-schools! At Estnation Ginza our volunteers in Tokyo and New York [...]

Dear Alterna Readers, Chief Executive Officer.  Its not a title to be taken on lightly.  As CEO of Room to Read I take my job very seriously.  CEO is a title that is almost always found exclusively in the business and commercial realm, but rarely in the non-profit world.  And [...]

Dear Alterna Readers, I am writing this as I fly back (on donated miles!) to San Francisco following another whirlwind Tokyo visit. The Room to Read volunteers of the Tokyo chapter wasted not a minute of my visit, and my days were full of media interviews, meetings with potential and current [...]

Dear Alterna Readers, There are many kinds of charities doing incredibly effective work around the world. They are all working towards the same purpose, to make the world a better place. These organizations take on many forms and guises. From small and local to established and global.  [...]

Dear Alterna Readers, Its been two months since I visited Tokyo, in a whirlwind tour in December that celebrated the book launch of the Japanese version of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. I admit that at the end of my three day Tokyo tour, I was both exhausted and exhilarated. Exhausted, [...]