John Wood was trekking through Nepal in 1998 when he had an epiphany: Few people in that impoverished Asian nation could read, let alone discern the difference between Windows 95 and Windows 98. So the Microsoft executive began sending e-mail to friends and relatives, asking them to send books to Nepal as part of a grassroots literacy campaign. Microsoft's director of business development for the greater China region became so absorbed in his volunteer effort, dubbed "Books for Nepal," that he began giving short shrift to his day job.

He quit Microsoft in 1999, moved to San Francisco in 2000, and turned Books for Nepal into a non-profit called Room to Read. The company, which has one paid staff member and about 1,000 donors, has so far funneled nearly $1 million in books and cash to developing countries of Asia, mainly Nepal and Vietnam. The 38-year-old Colorado native, who is hosting fundraisers this week in San Francisco and Palo Alto, Calif., talked to CNET News.com about the effects of illiteracy in developing nations. He also talked about how he persuades Silicon Valley venture capitalists and tech executives to part with their cash to build libraries and schools half a world away.