Geetha Murali

Dr. Geetha Murali is CEO of Room to Read, one of the most impactful global education organizations in the world, having benefited more than 60 million children across 29 countries and directed more than $1 billion toward literacy and gender equality. Since joining in 2009, she has built Room to Read into a destination for capital that does good—mobilizing resources from individual philanthropists, family offices, institutional funders, governments, and corporations across Asia, EMEA, and the Americas, and deploying them in some of the most complex markets for both investment and impact. The daughter of a would-be child bride in India, she draws on 25 years of corporate and nonprofit experience, including earlier roles in pharma and educational technology, and brings the analytical rigor of a quantitative and social science background to the work. Recognized by Michelle Obama, named a CNBC Changemaker and WIRED leader, and knighted by the King of Cambodia, Geetha is a frequent voice on capital, scale, and systems change in emerging markets. She holds advanced degrees from UNC Chapel Hill and UC Berkeley.