Inspiration
Founder and Board Co-chair of Room to Read
At age 35, inspired by visit to a dilapidated Nepali primary school with an empty library, John Wood left an executive career track at Microsoft to build one of the fastest-growing non-profits in history. In just 13 years and from a standing start, Room to Read has opened 1,675 schools and more than 15,000 libraries across ten developing countries. What's more, Room to Read is on track to meet an audacious goal: reach 10 million of the world's poorest children by 2015.
Comedian, Actress, Former Saturday Night Live Cast Member and Cancer Survivor
Julia Sweeney is best known for her four hit seasons on Saturday Night Live and her most popular character while on that show "Pat". As a solo performer, Julia Sweeney explores the issues of love, cancer, family and faith. She has garnered critical acclaim for her one-person-shows, God Said, "Ha!", In The Family Way, and Letting Go of God. God Said, "Ha!" played on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater in 1996 and was released as a film, produced by Quentin Tarantino, in 1998. Letting Go of God has also been made into a film.
People The TV Show Special Contributor | Podcaster - Empower Midlife | Motivational Speaker | Wife and mom❤️
Star of ABC’s 'Shark Tank,' Top Business Speaker, Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist and Investor, Featured in Harvard Business Review Case Study in 2023
Certified Executive, Life & Wellbeing Coach & Retreat Facilitator, former Interim Executive Director former CEO ARC Minnesota
High-Energy & Experienced Stage Dynamo
Host, Our America with Lisa Ling on OWN, Journalist, Author, Correspondent, National Geographic Explorer
Journalist Lisa Ling travels around the world, bringing attention to stories that often go unreported. As the field correspondent for OWN – The Oprah Winfrey Network and contributor to ABC News’ Nightline and National Geographic’s Explorer, Ling reported from dozens of countries, covering stories ranging from gang rape in the Congo and bride burning in India to the treatment of animals on farms here in the United States.