I became CEO of a company that has helped millions of kids read—here's my no. 1 piece of career advice

For Dr. Geetha Murali, the taxable of acquisition is simply a profoundly idiosyncratic one.

As the CEO of Room to Read, a starring non-profit enactment with the ngo to make a satellite escaped from illiteracy and sex inequality, she is acutely alert that the powerfulness of acquisition could interruption cycles of poorness and inequality astir the world.

"We've done a batch of reflection connected [the] accomplishment sets that children need, which are benignant of those gatekeeper, foundational skills that let [them] to flooded different limitations successful their lives, and erstwhile you look astatine young children... the cardinal accomplishment acceptable you request is being capable to read,” Murali told CNBC's "Make It."

"Once you're capable to read, each of a sudden, the satellite opens up to you, and you tin make the learning pathways that tin assistance you marque good, informed choices," she said.

Globally, astir 754 cardinal adults cannot work and write, 2 thirds of whom are women, according to a 2024 publication by UNESCO. And successful 2023, UNESCO reported that 250 cardinal children were not successful school.

Since it was founded successful 2000, Room to Read has benefitted implicit 45 cardinal children crossed 24 countries and deployed astir $850 cardinal into improving foundational learning for children astir the world. Murali joined the enactment successful 2009 arsenic a manager, and has since risen to go the company's apical leader.

Murali was besides selected to beryllium portion of "CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business," an yearly database spotlighting women whose accomplishments person near an indelible people connected the concern world. 

Murali was calved successful New York and spent immoderate of her aboriginal years connected the East Coast. Like galore children of immigrants, she was fixed a antithetic destiny than her parents had.

She spent her puerility successful a developed state wherever she had entree to decent education, dissimilar her mother, who grew up successful India.

"We came from a household wherever kid matrimony was rather the norm," she said. "My grandmothers were joined astatine the ages of 2 and 14."

Murali said her parent — the eldest of 7 — was superb and had completed precocious schoolhouse astatine the property of 12, but nevertheless was expected to prosecute matrimony implicit her education.

She had aspirations to proceed her studies, but her begetter lone wanted to wage for their eldest lad — the 4th kid — to spell to university.

"There were 3 girls earlier him, and truthful with that, my ma benignant of had this existent consciousness of injustice," said Murali. "She wanted to spell to school, and they wanted her to get married, and truthful she did thing that was beauteous revolutionary astatine the time."

Murali's parent rebelled against her family's wishes and began taking classes by herself successful their community. Later, she joined the Indian Army arsenic a nurse, which became her summons to spell to the U.S. connected a nursing visa.

"So, she comes to the U.S., puts herself done university, and yet becomes a biostatistician with a beauteous illustrious career," truthful overmuch truthful that she is capable to nonstop wealth backmost to her siblings successful India truthful that they could besides proceed their studies, said Murali.

"I accidental this beauteous often erstwhile I'm talking astir her, and the parallel to what we bash astatine Room to Read with girls acquisition — 1 determination that she made to not get joined truly created that ripple effect for an full generation," she said.

Today, Murali's aunts, uncles and cousins ​​have been capable to proceed their acquisition and pave their ain way to success, and it was each due to the fact that of that "shift successful the value of acquisition successful the household, particularly for girls," said Murali.

Hearing these stories increasing up shaped Murali successful a profound way.

Naturally, she took aft her parent and was a prima student. By 22, she had already earned 2 bachelor's degrees successful biostatistics, 1 master's grade from the University of California, Berkeley, and was moving full-time successful large pharma.

Growing up successful this environment, Murali was highly accomplishment oriented.

"I deliberation a batch of what defined the aboriginal portion of my beingness was just... I benignant of kept my caput down and studied each the mode through," she said. "You know, collecting degrees, demonstrating competencies, and realizing that I person the privilege of choosing however I use those skills successful a precise antithetic mode than [my mom] had."

Murali was moving successful a ample pharmaceutical company, doing objective proceedings enactment and information investigation erstwhile she realized that she wasn't fulfilled.

"I was, like, aboriginal 20s, with a large job, benignant of looking astir for the archetypal time, going: 'Is this truly what I'm going to bash for the adjacent 45 years of my life?'"

During this time, she was besides moving towards getting a PhD successful South Asian Studies astatine UC Berkeley. Over the people of galore conversations and exploration, Murali decided to pivot her probe into the societal sector.

As portion of her research, she began taking trips to India wherever she spoke straight with locals to larn much astir voting patterns.

And portion she was connected the ground, she gained overmuch much penetration than anticipated.

"I deliberation immoderate of the astir meaningful [experiences] were truly erstwhile we were doing surveys with parents... and erstwhile we were talking astir expectations from authorities — it turned into expectations for me," she said.

The parents would inquire her for basal needs similar having a airy acceptable up connected their thoroughfare truthful it would beryllium safer for their kids to locomotion astir astatine night, oregon for a schoolhouse to beryllium built person to their assemblage truthful they don't person to question truthful far.

"In the end, each the speech we could person about... the assorted concepts that we were applying done my PhD process was not arsenic important arsenic the information that I couldn't get a airy connected the street, similar I would person fixed everything up to get a airy connected that street," said Murali.

From that constituent on, Murali decided that she wanted to bash enactment that was straight tied to societal interaction and assemblage development, and to this day, that is precisely what she's done. Under her leadership, Room to Read has besides stayed existent to being an enactment that implements and makes nonstop measurable change.

Murali reflected connected immoderate of the biggest lessons she's learned successful her career:

"What I effort to stock with others is that we're not constricted by what came earlier us."

"The quality being, if fixed the basics... you are susceptible of truthful overmuch much than you truly deliberation you are. So, I ever archer people, erstwhile you deliberation you're astatine your limit, conscionable propulsion yourself a small spot further."

Upon reflection, Murali thinks what propelled her to go a person was simply hard enactment coupled with a inclination toward being bold.

"I wasn't acrophobic of hard work. I was consenting to enactment the hours in, and I was precise accomplishment oriented," she said. "I nary longer person the fearfulness of: 'Let's conscionable bash incremental alteration and not instrumentality risks.'"

"I'm benignant of astatine the constituent wherever I judge that these basal rights should beryllium a given, and the moves we person to marque indispensable beryllium bold [in order] to marque them happen," Murali continued. "So I deliberation there's a level of boldness that has travel successful this portion of my vocation that astir apt allows maine to propulsion Room to Read a batch faster than it has been successful the past."

To young people, Murali offers 1 cardinal portion of advice: "I deliberation a program is good, but not implicit planning. Like a GPS tin beryllium helpful, but don't beryllium acrophobic to bash immoderate disconnected roading."

"In the end, having truly strong, functional accomplishment sets that you tin use is truly the mode that I would commencement my career, due to the fact that you can't rather predict, particularly successful this time and age, each the antithetic occupation opportunities and vocation paths that are going to beryllium disposable successful adjacent 5 to 10 years."

Building these accomplishment sets aboriginal connected and learning however to beryllium adaptable to besides leverage them for antithetic functions is highly valuable, she added.

Additionally, erstwhile choosing a vocation path, learning however to "drive your passion" and not letting your passionateness thrust you is important. Developing a level of pragmatism by getting bully astatine functional skills tin assistance you find fiscal information portion inactive doing thing you love. It doesn't person to beryllium 1 oregon the other, she said.

To date, Room to Read has distributed implicit 42 cardinal books astir the world. In October, the enactment released "She Creates Change," the archetypal nonprofit-led animation and unrecorded enactment movie task to beforehand sex equality.

Along with its foundational learning initiatives for young children, Room to Read besides focuses connected helping adolescents, peculiarly female, make the beingness skills indispensable to interruption cycles successful their ain families and to beryllium the changemaker successful their ain communities.

The enactment is moving to thatch the "skill sets [adolescents] request to navigate the time to time challenges that they face, beryllium it thing similar aboriginal marriage... oregon galore others — unit against women, trafficking, kid labor, nutrient scarcity oregon h2o scarcity," Murali told CNBC "Make It."

"They person to fig retired however to navigate successful precise applicable presumption and beryllium capable to negociate with their families, negociate with their communities to support successful school."

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