Kanika Kumar
About Kanika Kumar
Kanika Kumar is a Director at IDEO, where she leads initiatives focused on connecting underserved communities to the digital economy. She has held various leadership roles in organizations such as Intellecap and Luminate, and has a strong academic background with degrees from Osmania University and the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.
Work at IDEO
Kanika Kumar currently serves as Director at IDEO, a role she has held since 2022. Prior to this position, she worked as Senior Design Strategy Lead at IDEO from 2019 to 2022. In her capacity at IDEO, she leads the Last Mile Money initiative, which is a global innovation portfolio developed in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This initiative focuses on connecting underserved communities to the digital economy.
Previous Experience at Intellecap
Kanika Kumar has extensive experience at Intellecap, where she held multiple roles. She served as Regional Lead for Africa from 2014 to 2017, based in Nairobi, where she managed the expansion of Intellecap into East Africa and advised on inclusive business and impact investment strategies. Following this, she worked as AVP of Corporate Strategy and Business Development from 2017 to 2018 in the Mumbai Area, and earlier, as a Manager from 2011 to 2014.
Education and Expertise
Kanika Kumar holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, where she studied from 2018 to 2019. She also completed a Summer Program at the London School of Economics in 2009, focusing on Media Law, Corporate Law, and Governance. Her undergraduate education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Osmania University, completed from 2006 to 2009.
Professional Development and Community Engagement
Kanika Kumar is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shaper Community in Mumbai, which focuses on community development and leadership. She is also an ASPIRE Fellow, contributing to initiatives aimed at leadership and community development. Additionally, she designed and implemented the Sankalp Forum, recognized as one of the largest common action platforms for sustainable development.
Short-Term Roles and Internships
In 2010, Kanika Kumar worked as an Account Planning Trainee at TBWA in the Mumbai Area for seven months. She also served as a Summer Associate at Luminate in London for two months in 2019, gaining experience in the field of social impact and innovation.