Hi, my name is Mary Doe and I am the co-founder of Room to Read. Let me tell you a little about myself. I have always loved reading. In fact, Dr. Seuss children's books were my favorite and I still have them on my shelves today. Reading filled my imagination and gave me inspiration since childhood that still influences me today. I can only think of a few things that are more powerful than a book. While many people around us enjoy the luxury of having access to libraries and books every day, this is not the case for the vast majority of people around the world. Consider the following statistics: 759 million people cannot read or write 98% live in developing countries 2/3 are girls and women This is exactly the reality that describes our world right now. Illiteracy impacts very significant groups of populations in the world today. That won't change; the cycle of poverty will continue if we do not do something about the education of all those individuals who suffer from illiteracy. That's why I'm here today, to share my passion for providing education to these people along with my fellow co-founder and friend, John Wood, here. So how did I discover this idea? Let me take you back to the mid-90s. I worked at Goldman Sachs, an investment banking firm. And I left Goldman and joined Unilever in Vietnam. Back then, Vietnam had just opened up to foreign investment, and that was very exciting for me. I spent 3 wonderful years living there and helping my company grow in business. However, during these 3 years, it made me realize one thing. Education is the absolute key to getting out of poverty. So I signed up for community service at...... middle of paper ...... school. He said: "With no space to read, he would have to abandon his studies and work in a factory." Our main way of spreading our message is through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, 3 of the most popular social media in the world. right now. We have been able to provide higher education opportunities to children, which will empower them to make big decisions in life and help them turn their dreams into reality. We have the power to eradicate illiteracy, and it starts with each of you. It is my dream to have all children be able to make their dreams a reality despite their place of birth and their circumstances. Help us make the world a better place by providing more children with a higher level of education. I would like to conclude by leaving you a quote. As Blablaba stated, “the key to developing solutions is an educated population.”