Room to Read

“Form 990 review process room to read's form 990 undergoes a number of internal and external reviews prior to being filed with the irs. The return is reviewed by room to read's public accounting firm, grant thornton llp, and reviewed by room to read's accounting department, ceo, and cfo. Then copies of the form 990 are provided to the audit committee and to all board members for their review and approval. Any questions the audit committee and board members have are directed to room to read's controller.”

“Process for monitoring of conflict of interest policy our conflict of interest policy is included in room to read's employee handbook. Worldwide the employee handbook is distributed to new employees upon hire. In accordance with this policy, signed acknowledgements are maintained in individual employee files by human resources. Annually the management team and board sign conflict of interest statements and during the year any changes in conflict of interest are reported to the board. If a situation of conflict arise on any matter, the interested member/s abstain from voting on that matter.”

“Process for determining compensation of ceo and key employees the board has a human resources committee which includes at least two independent directors and the chief operating officer/chief people and technology officer. The organization uses an independent advisory party to benchmark all salary ranges at least every 2 years. The human resources committee reviews and approves in general the organization's salary ranges. Separately, based on these benchmarks and on individual performance reviews, the human resources committee submits recommendations for top management salaries (including the ceo and cfo) to the board, which are reviewed and documented by the board as part of the annual budget discussion.”

“Documents available to the public the organization makes financial documents such as an annual audit, form 990, form 990-t, and annual report available to the public on the room to read website or upon request. All other governing documents are not available to the public via the organizational website but can be issued upon request if appropriate. The conflict of interest policy is shared and updated annually with the board of directors and key employees.”

“In order to be as transparent as possible on the operations of the organization, room to read (the organization") has elected to file form 990 on a consolidated basis to be consistent with its consolidated audited financial statements. The consolidated financial statements include accounts of the organization, one regional office and seven country offices registered under room to read, as well as accounts of room to read australia limited, room to read canada, room to read (hong kong) limited, room to read india private company limited, room to read india trust, room to read global services private limited, room to read united arab emirates , room to read japan, room to read nepal, room to read netherlands, room to read new zealand charitable trust, room to read singapore limited, room to read south africa association, room to read-switzerland, room to read united kingdom limited and room to read zambia limited in which the organization effectively has control and an economic interest. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Form 990, part iii, line 1 , description of organization mission : room to read is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality, through education. Room to read transforms the lives of millions of children through education, creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality.”

“The organization establishes school libraries and stocks them with local language books, english books, and original room to read children's books. Brightly colored furniture, puzzles and games foster a child friendly environment and encourage a love for reading. 5,195 libraries were established in 2022. To date we have completed a cumulative total of 35,946 libraries . Tanzania impact study confirms children learning faster at room to read schools: a just completed two-year impact evaluation of our literacy program in tanzania, comparing outcomes between 50 room to read schools and 50 control schools found that students in room to read schools outperform their peers despite covid-related restrictions and modifications to our delivery approach. The study confirmed that even with a transition to mostly virtual learning, room to read's literacy program provides better outcomes than non-room to read schools. South africa team helps shape national literacy conversation south africa country director vanessa francis participated in a 2030 reading panel discussion composed of 18 prominent south african leaders who will meet annually until 2030 to review whether south africa is on track with its goal of ensuring that all children are able to read by the age of 10 by 2030. The reading panel will evaluate progress and provide long-term leadership for improving literacy in south africa. Bangladesh creates spaces to help cultivate reading habits to address pandemic-related learning loss and encourage children to develop a habit of reading, our bangladesh team collaborated with local partners to establish community reading forums in cox's bazar. Young learners can access local language storybooks, read independently, borrow quality reading materials and learn alongside other students and room to read-trained volunteer instructors in these inviting reading spaces even when school is not in session. Literacy initiative supports children in crisis in lebanon millions of children in lebanon have been out of school, and many of those children are refugees. To strengthen children's literacy skills and reading habits in lebanon and support the transition of out-of-school children into the formal school system, room to read launched a two-year project that includes partnering with lebanese publishers to print and distribute 60 original arabic storybooks to roughly 1,800 non-formal education centers across lebanon. The initiative also entails establishing 50 children's libraries in non-formal education centers, benefiting approximately 50,000 children and supporting early-grade literacy development in coordination with local efforts. Global book collection uses folklore to explore climate change 2022 marked the release of room to read's folklore & environment book collection, which uses ancestral narratives from across the globe to tell stories about climate change. First developed in 2021 through a virtual room to read writers and illustrators' workshop composed of authors, artists and editors from bangladesh, cambodia, honduras, india, indonesia, laos, nepal, philippines, south africa, sri lanka, tanzania and vietnam, this robust collection of 11 books celebrates a diverse range of folk stories that have been shared across generations to help children reflect on the future of the natural world. Access to diverse careers gains 'steam' through new book collection with support from longtime partner tatcha, room to read introduced a new u.s.-based collection of storybooks in 2022 our steam-powered careers book collection. Available in spanish and english, the collection was created in collaboration with scientists, faculty and staff from the university of southern california and presents 10 titles to inspire children from groups underrepresented in science, technology, education, arts and mathematics (steam) fields. Through this book collection, children can learn about a variety of groundbreaking and exciting careers they can start exploring right n”

“Girls create safer schools in india to make schools safer and more welcoming for girls, thousands of girls' education program participants across india conducted safety assessments of local schools more than 100 in total documenting accessibility issues and thinking critically about what makes a space safe and welcoming for girls trying to continue their education. More than 179,000 girls' education program students and a group of more than 40,000 educators, caregivers, community leaders and government officials across nine states in india used these findings to advocate for the implementation of national laws and policies to support child protection in educational settings, with an emphasis on the importance of creating spaces for girls to flourish. Laos and vietnam hold life skills camps hundreds of room to read girls' education program students and educators from schools across laos and vietnam attended end-of-year life skills camps in 2022, each focused on a set of key life skills. Lessons were incorporated into interactive games and role-play activities that offered students real-life scenarios to navigate in groups, helping to deepen the girls' understanding of life skills while emphasizing the importance of teamwork, critical thinking and self-confidence. Road to equality radio series launches in nepal radio remains one of the most accessible communication channels for communities across nepal, making it an ideal platform for room to read's "road to equality" radio drama series, which premiered in december of 2022. More than 60 radio stations in nepal partnered with room to read to broadcast the series, allowing households across the country to access important messages about gender norms and equality, gender-specific discrimination in the classroom and the critical role of girls' education. Innovative activities in italy promote gender equality despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world by gross domestic product, italy ranks fourth among the 34 oecd (organization for economic cooperation and development) countries in unemployment rates among women. In southern italy, specifically, paid employment rates among women and girls have historically been low while dropout rates among adolescent girls have been high. Based on these findings, we identified a unique way to support girls in the region: life skills lessons provided through young adult graphic novels, along with school-based curriculum. Graphic novels are particularly popular among adolescent girls across italy, and through partnerships with local book creators, our team developed four engaging titles, each offering educational lessons including those focused on digital and financial literacy, as well as entrepreneurism, which support girls' future education and employability. Report highlights gender equality research and insights in march, we published our adolescent life skills assessment (alsa) with an accompanying in-depth technical report chronicling five years of development, testing and adaptation in seven countries. Alsa was curated and adapted by room to read and measures compentencies nine life skills, including relationship-building, self-confidence and decision-making. Additionally, we published a best practices guide for other organisations to contextualize and pilot the life skills assessment in thier own programs. Room to read releases she creates change in 2022, room to read partnered with rebel girls, a global girl empowerment brand, to publish "she creates change: 25 stories of courageous young women and their heroes," a book featuring 12 inspiring stories of girls from room to read's girls' education program who have used their life skills to create positive change in their lives and the lives of others. These remarkable changemakers have created sustainability apps, challenged forced marriage, grown gardens that nourish their communities and earned money for their families as youtube sensations. The girls' stories are paired with”

“Professional fees: program service expenses 6,022,705. Management and general expenses 282,529. Fundraising expenses 771,650. Total expenses 7,076,884.”

“Currency translation adjustment -915,290.”