Youth education non-profit Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide has appointed former WWF-Singapore boss Vivek Kumar as Asia Pacific president and chief executive, based in Singapore.
Kumar, who served as CEO of the nature and wildlife advocacy group for two years of a four-year stint that ended in January, steps into the position as JA sees Asia Pacific as key to its mission of preparing young people for the workforce.
He was previously WWF-Singapore’s head of marketing and fundraising, having joined the organisation in 2021. He had been promoted to CEO in 2023.
Founded in 1919, United States-headquartered JA is one of the world’s largest youth-focused non-governmental organisations, active in 130 countries. Its goal is to equip young people with real-world skills in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial capability.
Programmes the non-profit has produced for companies in Asia include Digital Skills for Future Jobs for Microsoft and The Schools Challenge for JP Morgan.
During his time at WWF-Singapore, Kumar worked on the organisation’s strategic focus and advanced work in areas such as carbon finance. These experiences align with JA’s own model of scaling impact through innovation, partnerships, and strong local leadership, the organisation said in a press release.
Over his career, Kumar has worked for the National Trades Union Congress, Singapore’s trade union confederation, and was previously with oil and gas company Shell as its head of retail marketing, based in Kuala Lumpur. He has also worked with advertising group WPP.
