Board of Directors
Chance Wilson
Chairman, CEO & Founder
Larry East
Vice Chairman & Board Director
Teri Myers
Lead Independent Board Director
Executive Committee
Patrik Westerlund
Chief Commercial Officer
Ramlie Kamsari
Chief Investment Officer
Mark Jackson
Chief Communications Officer
Kimberley Battistella
Head of Learning & Culture
Charlie Harrison
Chief Digital Officer
Krys Piotrowski
Chief Marketing Officer
Our Story
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Too many people across the globe can’t read or write. And our world is a vastly poorer, less healthy and more dangerous place because of it. This reality was made clear ten years ago to a then 14 year old named Chance Wilson. Chance began noticing classmates at his Baton Rouge middle school couldn’t read or write. Galvanized to action, Chance founded the Wilson Global Initiative on the belief that global illiteracy must be overcome.
Our work started with tutoring elementary school students in Baton Rouge, where we were founded. We then spread our model of sending volunteers into communities to teach reading and writing to cities like New York, Los Angeles, and even Tokyo. The more we achieved, the broader our reach, including cities in Africa and Asia. Along the way we partnered with some of the most iconic brands, like HBO and GE, to bring literacy all over the world. We continue our philanthropy as WGI Worldwide Philanthropies and operate commercially (mainly via our Lyra platform) as The WGI Worldwide Company.
Watch our inspiring story told below on NBC’s TODAY: