Erin Ganju
Erin Ganju is a Co-founder, former CEO, former COO and Emeritus Board Member of Room to Read, an organization that believes World Change Starts with Educated Children.® Room to Read envisions a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their communities and the world.
From the early start-up days of Room to Read, Erin was instrumental in the design and implementation of the organization’s scalable, replicable model for improving the quality of education around the world. In 2009, Erin became Chief Executive Officer of Room to Read. As CEO, Erin oversaw Room to Read’s global operations across 15 countries; a technical assistance unit called Room to Read Accelerator; fundraising teams in North America, Europe, Australia and the Asia Pacific region; and a worldwide staff of more than 1,600 employees.
Under her leadership, Room to Read was recognized with multiple prestigious awards, including the U.S. Library of Congress Literacy Award (David M. Rubenstein Prize), the UNESCO 2011 Confucius Prize for Literacy and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In addition, Erin was selected as the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur (2014); recognized as a Global Impact Featured Member for 2017 by the Young Presidents’ Organization; and awarded the Women’s Bond Club Isabel Benham Award (2014). Erin was also named one of Fast Company’s Extraordinary Women (2012) and is a contributor to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Insider Network.
Erin also co-authored Scaling Global Change: A Social Entrepreneur’s Guide to Surviving the Start-up Phase and Driving Impact with Cory Heyman, Chief Innovation Officer & Executive Director, Room to Read Accelerator, at Room to Read. A “how to” guide for social entrepreneurs who have a vision of changing the world, the book details the process of building an effective and scalable social enterprise, utilizing lessons from Erin’s tenure as Room to Read’s CEO.
Before co-founding Room to Read, Erin worked at Goldman Sachs & Co, Unilever and several technology start-ups. She has spent extensive time working and living in Asia, where she saw firsthand the need to enhance developing countries’ educational systems. Erin holds a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in international relations and economics from The Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. Erin is currently the Managing Director at Echidna Giving Fund.
Publications by Erin Ganju
Coming in Spring 2018, Scaling Global Change: A Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Surviving the Start-up Phase and Driving Impact is co-authored by Erin Ganju and Dr. Cory Heyman. The book is a how-to guide for social entrepreneurs who have a vision to change the world and need a strong organizational foundation to do it, utilizing Room to Read as an organizational case study. 100% of proceeds from the book will be invested in Room to Read.
