This case study profiles Room to Read, a global education organisation whose Girls' Education Programme builds life skills in adolescent girls to challenge gender norms across 29 countries.
Room to Read was founded in 2000 by John Wood, alongside co-founders Erin Ganju and Dinesh Shrestha, after Wood's 1998 trip to Nepal exposed the lack of resources in schools across the Himalayas. What began as a book donation project has grown into a global organisation that has benefited more than 52 million children across 29 countries.
The organisation's signature gender equality initiative, the Girls' Education Programme, targets girls in grades 6 to 10 and builds five life skills: collaboration, critical thinking, decision making, resilience and leadership. Delivery relies on 'social mobilisers', local women trained as mentors who provide individual and group support to girls at risk of dropping out, including working directly with families to keep girls in school. Since 2018, Room to Read has developed its own tools to measure these outcomes, including the Adolescent Life Skills Assessment.
Recognising that shifting gender norms also requires reaching boys, Room to Read piloted the Life Skills of Equality Project, a two-year, 34-session curriculum covering six themes including gender roles, masculinity and healthy relationships. The organisation also partners with ministries of education to embed its curriculum into national teaching standards, moving delivery from extracurricular clubs into the standard school day.
Evaluations conducted between 2021 and 2025 across countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Tanzania and Vietnam found consistent gains in decision making and emotional resilience, alongside a 22 per cent increase in gender knowledge and attitudes linked to participation in the programme. By the end of 2027, Room to Read aims to double the number of children and communities it supports each year.
Key messages
- Room to Read's Girls' Education Programme builds five life skills, collaboration, critical thinking, decision making, resilience and leadership, in girls between grades 6 and 10.
- Local women trained as 'social mobilisers' deliver mentorship and work directly with families to keep girls at risk of dropping out in school.
- Evaluations from 2021 to 2025 across six countries found a 22 per cent increase in gender knowledge and attitudes among programme participants, with statistically significant gains in decision making and emotional resilience.
- The Life Skills of Equality Project extends this work to boys through a two-year, 34-session curriculum addressing gender roles, masculinity and relationships.
- Room to Read partners with ministries of education to move its curriculum from extracurricular clubs into the standard school day, embedding it within national teaching systems.
- Since 2018, the organisation has developed its own measurement tools, including the Adolescent Life Skills Assessment, to track life skills, gender attitudes and long-term agency.
- Room to Read aims to double the number of children and communities it reaches each year by the end of 2027.
