The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has appointed marketing professional Vivek Kumar to lead its Singapore operations as chief executive.
Kumar moves into the role after two years as WWF’s head of marketing and fundraising. He was formerly assistant director-general at the National Trades Union Congress, Singapore’s trade union confederation, and was earlier with oil and gas company Shell as its head of retail marketing, based in Kuala Lumpur for more than four years.
He replaces outgoing CEO R Raghunathan, a former financial consultant who moves on after three and a half years with the conservation group.
In a statement, WWF-Singapore board chairman Hsieh Fu Hua said that under Raghunathan’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,” he said.
WWF’s Singapore office serves as a fundraising hub for the region and is the global headquarters for Earth Hour, WWF’s annual “Earth Hour” lights-off movement, a project that Kumar had worked on. WWF-Singapore’s key programmes include tackling deforestation, the illegal wildlife trade, food security, sustainable finance, and sustainable consumption.
