Cases & Deals

Jones Day's Sydney office hosts boardroom lunch for John Wood, founder and Board Chair of Room to Read

Client(s) Room to Read

Matt Latham, and other partners and lawyers of the Firm's Sydney office, hosted a private boardroom lunch for John Wood, the Founder and Board Chair of Room to Read in March 2011. A number of clients of the Sydney office and other Australian business and not-for-profit leaders gathered at the lunch to hear John Wood explain Room to Read's plans to grow their activities in Asia and Africa in 2011, and further enhance their girl's education program in developing countries. Another area of discussion during the lunch was how John had worked to successfully combine corporate metrics and strategy with the aims of a not-for-profit organization.

The success of the event was marked by one of our guests agreeing, upon conclusion of the lunch, to fund construction of a new school for Room to Read in Sri Lanka.

Room to Read is an innovative non-profit leader dedicated to transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. In its 10 year history, it has opened over 10,000 libraries and 1,200 schools in nine countries. Jones Day provides pro bono services to Room to Read from a number of its offices, and the Jones Day Foundation has funded the construction of a number of schools for Room to Read in India. The Firm is working with Room to Read to host similar events to the Sydney lunch in some of its other Asian offices.