Robby Tulus pioneered the Credit Union Movement in Indonesia in the late 1960s, co-founded the Credit Union Counseling/Central Organization (CUCO) in Indonesia, and the Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU). He started his career as managing director of CUCO Indonesia (Jakarta 1971-80), Training Specialist of ACCU (Seoul, Korea 1981-83), Asia Region Director of the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA, Ottawa, Canada, 1983-1993), Senior Policy Advisor of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA, New Delhi & Manila 1993-96), and Regional Director for Asia Pacific of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), based in New Delhi and Singapore (1996-2002)
Subsequent to his retirement from ICA in 2002, Robby Tulus continued his active involvement in co-operatives and international development work, with consultancies for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA – now GAC), NTUC-Income (Singapore), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA-SNCF-Singapore), International Labor Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Asian Development Bank.
In early 2005, he was named ICA Special Envoy for Post-Tsunami Co-operative Reconstruction programs in Asia, primarily in Aceh (Indonesia) and Sri Lanka. From 2006 to 2009 he worked primarily in Aceh for the Asian Development Bank’s Livelihood and Micro Finance Support Program. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Aceh International Society (School) of Microfinance (AISMIF), operating under the auspices of the University of Syiah Kuala, in the Syariah Province of Aceh (Indonesia). Robby Tulus held various Co-operative & CSO Board of Directors in Canada, UK, and the Asia Region throughout his professional tenure.
In 2012, Robby Tulus founded and pioneered the establishment of the National Association of Strategic Socio-Economic Cadres (AKSES-NASSEC) in Indonesia and in 2016 he founded the National Federation of People-Based Co-operative Enterprises (INKUR FEDERATION) of Indonesia. He was Commissioning Editor of the International Journal on Co-operative Management in the UK, and is currently actively engaged as Editorial Board member of a major publication by Elsevier (Waking the Asian Co-operative Potential), together with other academicians from Hosei University (Japan), Chanakya University (India), New Castle University (Australia) and the University of Dundee (Scotland). A second publication is due in 2026.
He continues his active engagements with the Indonesian diaspora in Canada, with the ICA Asia Pacific, as well as Co-operative Movements in Indonesia and Asian countries. He also continues to promote and facilitate fair-trade, educational and business linkages between Canada, Asia-Pacific and Indonesia. Robby Tulus is based in Ottawa, Canada, and travels frequently to Indonesia and other countries.