30 Sep 2020
In his current capacity as CEO, Karthik provides leadership across an organisation of over 800 staff, and oversees over 28 different programmes which operate out of more than 16 different locations across the island. A driven social leader, Karthik is an experienced clinician with over 20 years of comprehensive experience managing cross-functional teams in multiple countries. With a career in AWWA that spans over ten years, Karthik joined the organisation in 2007 as an Occupational Therapist and enhanced AWWA’s Disability Continuum, which now serves over 4000 persons each year. In a bid to build capacity and capability within the organisation, he was also instrumental in setting up Allied Health Professional Group – a therapy hub that now serves over 9,000 persons a year through internal AWWA services, and external services in the social service and healthcare sectors.
Karthik is an accomplished Social Service Fellow, having been appointed twice by the National Council of Social Service. Always advocating for more initiatives to meet evolving social service gaps, Karthik sits in multiple external committees, and identifies new opportunities for sustainability through developing strategic partnerships with concordant parties to engage and positively impact the community. Karthik’s participation in external committees – past and present, includes being a member of the Allied Health Professions Council (Ministry of Health – MOH), the CareShield Life Council (MOH), the Enabling Masterplan Workgroup on Inclusive Preschool (Ministry of Social and Family Development – MSF), the Enabling Masterplan Workgroup on Independent Living (MSF), the Community Care Skills Standards Task Force (Agency for Integrated Care), the Advisory Committee for Persons with Disability (National Library Board) and panel member on the Leadership Selection Panel (MSF & National Council of Social Service). Karthik was also a steering committee member of the third Enabling Masterplan and EMP 2030. Under Karthik’s leadership, AWWA garnered its first Charity Transparency Award in 2019 – an award that is given to agencies which are recognised for being well managed and having good disclosure practices.
Karthik holds a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, a Master of Science in Fitness, Exercise Rehabilitation and Nutrition Care, and is an alumni of Harvard Business School’s General Management Program.