Tag: Vivek Kumar

Singapore – The World Wide Fund for Nature-Singapore (WWF-Singapore) has announced that Vivek Kumar will take over the role of the organisation’s chief executive officer role from R. Raghunathan, who held the role for more than three and a half years. The transition officially takes happen on January 1, 2024.

Kumar brings a wealth of diverse leadership experience spanning over two decades, including notable tenures at multinational corporations, and in Singapore’s public sector. Vivek was previously an assistant director-general at the National Trades Union Congress and a board member of Labour Movement entities such as NTUC Link. 

He has also served as a board member at Enterprise Singapore, Infocomm Media, Development Authority and Assurity Trusted Solutions (a wholly owned subsidiary of GovTech Singapore).

Kumar joined WWF-Singapore back in 2021 as its chief marketing and communications officer and was promoted to the role of chief marketing, communications and fundraising officer in February this year. He is also the architect of the inaugural WWF Global Earth Hour Summit 2023.

Speaking on his new role, he said, “WWF-Singapore strives to bring people together to act for nature and our shared well-being. This purpose is more relevant for our planet today than perhaps ever before. It is an honour to be designated to lead a team of talented and dedicated fellow Pandas at WWF-Singapore. We will work with our donors, supporters, corporate partners, and policymakers to create a sustainable future for all of us.”

Meanwhile, Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of the WWF-Singapore board, commented, “The Board appreciates Raghu’s dedicated service to the organisation. Under Raghu’s leadership, the organisation navigated the challenges posed by the pandemic and achieved growth in local conservation efforts and community engagements. We are confident that the organisation is poised to achieve an even greater impact under his successor, Vivek, and his team.”

Singapore – Following the departure of Vivek Kumar from retail giant NTUC FairPrice as its director of strategic marketing and omnichannel monetization, Kumar is immediately announced by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Singapore as its newest chief marketing and communications director. 

As he brings in more than 20 years of diversified experience in management and strategic communications, Kumar will be leading WWF-Singapore’s campaigns, focusing on conservation and climate change goals such as deforestation, haze pollution, food security, plastics, sustainable finance, sustainable consumption, and illegal wildlife trade.

The role takes effect immediately, and entails him to work closely with communities, businesses and governments to advocate for positive change.

At NTUC, Kumar helmed the marketing of over 160 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress convenience stores across Singapore, as well as setting up the FairPrice Group Media.

He also held various roles in the Singapore Labour Movement since 2010, and was assistant director-general (ADG) and director of the membership services division of NTUC.

He shared that his leadership style centers around “peer-powered learning” that will help to foster meaningful connections among team members.

“As a leader, it is important to have empathy so that we can support our peers and colleagues. I am excited to be joining a driven, highly capable and diverse team at WWF-Singapore. I hope to engage individuals and companies in creating greater awareness through human-centric angles that support our mission and Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 goals,” Kumar said.

He also added that his interest working with the organization started out as a donor to one of WWF-Singapore’s initiatives and soon became his dream job to join the organization.

“I have always been driven by a sense of purpose, from volunteering in my college days, to my recent role with the Singapore Labour Movement supporting union members. As the 2021 IPCC report highlights, there is really no time for us to lose when it comes to the health of our planet,” Kumar said.

While still in his position at NTUC FairPrice, Kumar graced the recently-held roundtable of MARKETECH APAC ‘Business Growth Levers from Acquisition to Retention’ in September where he shared how the organization’s convenience store Cheers adapted to the changes in the pandemic which included doubling down on good consumer research and offering innovative products. 

“We can’t wait for the customers to come to us. We can create the right occasion [as long as] we understand the customer’s needs. We must give them very friction-free shopping experiences where they can complete their mission – you can’t leave it midway,” Kumar said in the roundtable.