Our Co-Founders
In 2016, Xiaowei (left) interviewed a fresh graduate named Daniel for a role that technically required a master’s. She chose potential over checkboxes, brought him in, and kept raising the bar with stretch assignments, shielding when needed, sponsoring when it mattered.
We’ve both taken winding paths since. Now we’re building a place where that kind of apprenticeship will become the norm: mentors who care, stretch assignments with safety nets, and a living chain of knowledge and life lessons.
That’s how we keep advisory human, by connecting expertise across generations.
Xiaowei is a recognised leader in energy, sustainability and strategic communications, with a career spanning more than three decades across industry, policy and global networks. In 2025, she was honoured with the Lifetime Communications Achievement Award by the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore for her long-standing impact on the profession.
As Asia Director and Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of the World Energy Council, and previously as Regional Vice President for External Relations at Shell, Xiaowei has spent her career at the intersection of complex transitions, societal expectations and responsible leadership. She continues to shape industry thinking through her role with The Conference Board’s Asia Strategic Communications Leaders Council, her board work with the Marketing Society Singapore and GGEF, and her teaching on Energy Transitions and ESG at Singapore Management University. She is also a certified Gallup StrengthsFinder coach and the author of two books on leadership, communications and sustainability.
In 2025, Xiaowei co-founded Retension to bring a new model of impact to the future of work. Inspired by the belief that meaningful ageing and youth opportunity can reinforce each other, she envisioned a platform where seasoned professionals and young career starters collaborate, learn and grow together. Retension blends wisdom and experience with digital fluency and fresh perspectives—delivering strategic communications and sustainability consulting that creates value for organisations and society alike.
At the heart of Xiaowei’s work is a commitment to purposeful leadership, lifelong learning and building bridges across generations. Retension is the embodiment of that mission.
Daniel Lee is a communications strategist specialising in sustainability, energy transition and enterprise transformation across Asia. He has built his career at the intersection of purpose, complexity and organisational change, helping leaders shape narratives that build trust, guide decision-making and mobilise teams through periods of transition.
Most recently, Daniel established the ESG practice for Edelman Smithfield in APAC, where he provided strategic counsel to senior leadership across the financial and corporate sectors. He worked closely with c-suite leaders and regional executives to connect strategy with stakeholder expectations, strengthen credibility around sustainability commitments, and close critical say–do and do–say gaps.
Previously, as Manager of Group Communications and Branding at Surbana Jurong Group, Daniel drove global narratives for sustainability and energy transition and advised top management on media, speeches and external positioning. His earlier roles at Shell spanned M&A communications, crisis and incident response, stakeholder engagement and regional leadership communication During this period, he also co-managed the IdeaRefinery startup accelerator, supporting Singapore’s emerging energy innovation ecosystem and advocating for one of the company’s flagship social investment programmes.
Daniel is now Co-Founder of retension, where he hopes to shape an ecosystem that nurtures early-career talent the way his own mentors once nurtured him.