ABeam Consulting Becomes Corporate Sponsor of Room to Read

TOKYO, JAPAN – August 22, 2008 – ABeam Consulting, a global provider of operational consulting services, today announced it has become the first Japanese firm to become a corporate sponsor of Room to Read, an international NGO (Non-Government Organization). ABeam has made a corporate donation of US$50,000 and will provide ongoing financial contributions from individual employees, as well as operational expertise, in support of Room to Read’s mission to provide educational support to children in developing countries.

Currently, 800 million children in the world are illiterate and 100 million children are without access to schools, sowing the seeds of many social problems in developing countries. Surveys conducted by the United Nations indicate that investment in education works most effectively in contributing to economic development and in eradicating social problems such as disease and human rights.

Room to Read was founded in 2000 by former Microsoft executive John Wood, who wanted to bring the concepts and vision of global business practices to the NGO sector. Its goal is to provide 10 million children in developing countries with learning opportunities by 2020. To date, Room to Read had achieved remarkable results, having established 5,160 libraries, 442 schools and 155 computer and language labs; funded 4,036 scholarships for girls, and provided more than 2.2 million English language books, with 226 titles in local languages.

“If children lack educational opportunities, they cannot break free of poverty,” said Mr. Kazumasa Nishioka, ABeam President & Representative Director. “When I read Mr. Wood’s book, ‘Leaving Microsoft to Change the World,’ I wanted the chance to join his support network. As a knowledge-based business that operates worldwide, we know the importance of this first-hand.”

ABeam Consulting is supporting both Room to Read’s vision and its operational strategy through a wide range of activities in addition to financial aid:

• US$50,000 corporate donation: With this donation, ABeam is the first Japanese corporate investor. The funds will be used for 11 mobile libraries for children in Vietnam and for English/local language books.
• Donations from employees: Ongoing individual donations have been designated for new educational infrastructure.
• Office space: ABeam is providing conference rooms as needed for Tokyo-based development meetings.
• Operational support from staff volunteers: ABeam’s management consultants will provide guidance to the Room to Read team to help optimize their funding.

“We are very pleased to see that our employees so enthusiastically support the Room to Read mission and are even taking action independently,” continued Mr Kazumasa. “We are honored to offer financial support to reach children in need and the skills we have fostered in our consulting business to help Room to Read run their operations effectively.”

About ABeam Consulting
ABeam Consulting provides operational consulting services that create strategic advantage, improve business processes, leverage technology innovation, and enhance organizational performance for leading multinational and domestic companies worldwide. ABeam partners with clients to diagnose and solve their real challenges with solutions that combine industry and operational best practices with technical expertise. Pragmatic approaches ensure that clients gain measurable value more quickly. Headquartered in Tokyo, ABeam’s more than 3,500 professionals serve more than 700 clients throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. For more information, please visit www.abeam.com.

About Room to Read, an NGO
Based in San Francisco and with 33 Chapters (volunteer groups), Room to Read develops a wide range of activities to establish learning environments for children in eight countries in the world, including Nepal, Vietnam and Cambodia. In 2007, it set up schools, libraries, computer rooms and language labs, etc, at a rate of four facilities a day. The target for 2008 is six a day.

The initiation of the organization was chronicled in a book titled “Leaving Microsoft to Challenge the World” and published in Japan by Random House Kodansha in September 2007. The book attracted much attention, and was introduced in the book review pages of newspapers, magazines and others, remaining a long-seller even now.

Inquiries on this matter should be addressed to:

ABeam Consulting Ltd. Akimoto, Corporate Information, Marketing Division Address: Yurakucho Building, 1-10-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0006 Phone: 03-3501-8355 Fax: 03-5548-7237 e-mail: japan@abeam.com

Room to Read e-mail: tokyo@roomtoread.org