Kihoko Tokue

Managing Director, Leave a Nest Singapore

Raised across Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, and the United States, Kihoko holds a Master’s in Zoology from the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia where she studied life history on two species of honeyeaters. She continued her study for Ph.D. in behavioural research conducted in the Northern Territory in Australia. For this research she discovered the world’s first nestling ejection behavior by a host species of Bronze Cuckoo. She joined Leave a Nest in 2011, initially contributing to human resource development and later co-founding the International Development Division. In 2013, she established Leave a Nest Malaysia, followed by her appointment as Managing Director of Leave a Nest Singapore in 2016. She has led multiple educational immersion programs overseas including Australia for high school students, fostering long-standing ties with the local scientific community. She currently spearheads the TECH PLANTER deep tech acceleration program across Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. A bilingual presenter and certified United Nations English Proficiency Test (Grade A) holder, she is passionate about building cross-border collaborations.