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John David Risher (born July 15, 1965) is an American businessman and Philanthropy. He is the CEO of Lyft, co-founder of Worldreader, a non-profit organization that aims to get children reading so they can reach their potential, and the co-founder of #HalfMyDAF whose goal is to inspire more philanthropic giving.
Risher served as an executive at Microsoft Corporation, and was Senior Vice President of US Retail at Amazon.com from 1997 to 2002. In November 2009, together with Colin McElwee, he founded Worldreader. Risher succeeded Lyft co-founder Logan Green as its CEO in April 2023.
In 1987 he graduated from Princeton University, where he majored in Comparative Literature and wrote his thesis on “The Changing Attitudes towards Language in Samuel Beckett's early Metafiction.”
After graduating from college, he worked at L.E.K. Consulting, He bicycled across the United States before entering Harvard Business School, from which he graduated in 1991 with an MBA.
After leaving Amazon in 2002, Risher taught at the University of Washington's Foster Business School, where he created the University's course on “Competing on the Internet.” He was elected Professor of the Year in 2004.
Risher co-founded Worldreader after a year-long, 19-country trip around the world with his family, road-schooling his daughters and volunteering. After visiting an orphanage in Ecuador, Risher saw how technology could help traditionally underserved children read.
Worldreader is a US-based 501(c)(3) and European public charity with additional registrations in Kenya, Ghana, India, and the United Kingdom. Worldreader believes that “readers build a better world" and works with partners to get children reading so they can reach their potential. In March 2010, Worldreader launched a trial in Ayenyah, Ghana. Worldreader reports that, after receiving positive results, they were granted permission from Ghana's Ministry of Education to distribute e-readers to additional schools in Ghana. Since then, the organization has helped over 20 million readers in the United States and globally across more than 100 countries. Worldreader's BookSmart reading app offers children books and learning activities in six languages.
Risher is Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the year, a Microsoft Alumni Foundation Integral Fellow, and Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Social Entrepreneur. He serves on the board of directors of Lyft, on the International Advisory Board of ESADE, and sits on the International Advisory Board of Catalunya.
Risher succeeded Lyft co-founder Logan Green as its CEO on April 17, 2023.
Risher is Worldreader's Founding Board Chair and serves on the board of directors of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
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