MDEC Appoints Dashika Gnaneswaran as Head of Newsroom, Brand & Strategic Partnerships

• Previously Head of Communications at Microsoft Malaysia
• Will work in areas such as public affairs, social impact projects, social media strategy

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) announced the appointment of Dashika Gnaneswaran (pic) as Senior Manager, Newsroom. She will bolster the Brand and Strategic Partnerships Department under the Digital Investments Division, bringing local and international experience through driving strategic communication and building brands by working in areas such as public affairs, social impact projects, crisis communications and social media strategy.

She will report directly to Raymond Siva, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Digital Investments Division.

“As part of MDEC’s ‘Reinvent’ – a strategic change management exercise that was recently launched to inculcate a high-performing and high-impact organisation, the agency continues to build capabilities internally and identifying the right skills for managerial roles, to ensure optimal performance of our departments. As MDEC enables Malaysia to achieve its vision of a people-first society in the age of 4IR technology, leading to shared prosperity for all or Malaysia 5.0, MDEC ourselves must be equipped with the right talents– globally competitive talents,” said Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC.

“Dashika brings 16 years of public and private sector experience spanning international and local organisations with her, and I am sure she will be an inspiration to the exceptional talent we have. I am excited to have her lead our Newsroom team and reshape the way we approach outreach and engagement with the people and industry,” said Siva.

“It is an honour to be able to serve the nation, under the strong leadership MDEC has. I am driven by a passion to help bridge the digital divide through transformative mindsets, innovation and inclusivity and I look forward to leveraging my experience to bring positive impact to those who can benefit with digital enablement and intervention most. I will give my fullest to support and accelerate the high impact work that MDEC does to transform the digital economy,” said Dashika.

Dashika’s immediate past role was at Microsoft, leading communications. Prior to that she was at Malaysia’s largest financial investment institution, Kenanga Investment Bank.

She will be leading the messaging around MDEC’s mission to lead Malaysia’s digital economy, supported by three strategic priorities; Digitally Skilled Malaysians, Digitally Powered Businesses and Digital Investments.