At 25, Rajiv Kumar is young enough to embrace the opportunity in risk, yet old enough to put grand plans for societal change into action.
The Brown Medical School student is the founder and chairman of Shape Up RI, a statewide nonprofit organization he established in 2005 to help Rhode Islanders improve their health.
“The foundation for Shape Up RI developed from [a] belief that the solution to our national obesity epidemic lies in the power of teamwork and community support,” he wrote in his 40 Under Forty application.
The effort has been a clear success over the past three years, with more than 20,000 active participants from all 39 Rhode Island municipalities.
As chairman of the organization’s board, his responsibilities include negotiating partnerships and sponsorships, developing strategy and managing marketing, communications and public relations.
He’s also co-founder and managing partner of Providence Health Solutions LLC, which has launched a national expansion of Shape Up RI called Shape Up The Nation. Kumar has used the corporate wellness company to share his team-based, healthy-lifestyle model across North America.
Kumar is also co-founder of Adopt A Doctor, a nonprofit organization established in 2003 that provides financial support for underpaid doctors in Africa. He’s received more than $350,000 in foundation grants and corporate sponsorships for the effort.
The roots of Kumar’s self-described “passion for preventative medicine” run deep in his family. The third-year medical student comes from a family of 20 doctors. •
