Calvin Kizana's Career Expert, New Boss Of WhatsApp Indonesia

Calvin Kizana has just been appointed as the boss or Head of WhatsApp Indonesia. Calvin is known to have more than 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, leader, founder and advisor in technology.

Starting Monday, November 28, Calvin has started his new role at the WhatsApp office, Jakarta. According to the Meta-owned application, Calvin's appointment strengthens the importance of Indonesia for WhatsApp.

WhatsApp connects a lot of people here, friends, family, and the community, and we want to connect businesses easily," Calvin said in a statement received by VOI, Tuesday, November 29.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity for me to work on products that touch the lives of many people throughout Indonesia, and I can't wait to get started," he added.

Prior to joining WhatsApp, Calvin worked as COO of GoPlay, a live-streaming platform company owned by Gojek. Calvin also founded two startups, namely Playday, a live-streaming platform, and a PicMix social media platform.

Calvin has been actively involved in startups in Southeast Asia and has been a mentor and advisor to some of them. He was also awarded the digital entrepreneur of the year by Ernst and Young in 2014.

Later, Calvin will focus on further strengthening WhatsApp's local partnership in Indonesia and expanding the use of WhatsApp Business Platforms to help people find, send messages, and interact with businesses within the app.

WhatsApp has made significant investments in Indonesia, in the fields of health, digital literacy, small business training, and community development over the last few years.

The digital literacy partnership with the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) has reached more than 2.4 million people in 34 provinces.

WhatsApp has also collaborated with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs and the Ministry of Trade to train more than 30,000 SMEs in Indonesia.

"WhatsApp has a strong commitment to Indonesia, and we are very motivated by the positive impact of our partnership with the government, civil society and business organizations," said WhatsApp Vice President of Global Affairs & Strategic Markets, Victoria Grand.

"As a successful entrepreneur, Calvin knows what is needed to build a meaningful partnership, which provides real value to society, and we are very pleased Calvin joined," he continued.