Room to Read Welcomes Heather Simpson As New Chief Program Officer

Heather Simpson, former Senior Director for Education and Child Protection at Save the Children, joins Room to Read’s management team as Chief Program Officer, it was announced today by Erin Ganju, CEO and Co-founder of Room to Read.

“We are very fortunate to have found such an accomplished candidate in Heather Simpson to fill the crucial role of Chief Program Officer,” says Erin Ganju, Room to Read’s CEO and co-founder. “Heather’s expertise in tackling large and medium scale education projects for major nonprofit organizations will be enormously valuable to the future of Room to Read’s Literacy and Girls’ Education programs.”

Heather Simpson joins Room to Read with 20 years of international development experience, most recently at Save the Children, where she has worked since 2009. She has worked as a project manager and technical adviser for organizations such as the American Institutes for Research, Juarez and Associates, and Save the Children for education projects funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and other public and private donors, beginning her career as a Peace Corps volunteer based in Honduras. Throughout her career in international education, she has worked in Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and has contributed to dialogue on education with NPR, Brookings Institution, the World Bank’s Civil Society Panels, DevEx, Alhurra TV, PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, and USAID. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University and her Master’s in Education from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Simpson is based in Washington, DC.

“Room to Read is a thought leader in the international education community and I am proud to lead a team of inspiring, passionate and dedicated individuals who develop and implement such impactful interventions in literacy and girls’ education,” said Heather Simpson, Room to Read’s Chief Program Officer. “I have long had great respect for the work of this organization and look forward to developing our programs to improve the lives and learning of millions more children in the years to come.”

Dr. Cory Heyman, former Chief Program Officer, is now Room to Read’s Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of Room to Read Accelerator, a recently launched technical assistance unit designed to train government and partner organizations to deliver award-winning programs in literacy and girls’ education.