DIAMOND EMPOWERMENT FUND’S
SECOND ANNUAL GOOD AWARDS SALUTES
GLOBAL LEADERS
New York, NY; January 11, 2013 – Last night at the ultra-hip nightclub LAVO, the
Diamond Empowerment Fund joined with the international diamond industry to
honor leaders committed to corporate social responsibility and promoting education
empowerment and prosperity in Africa, where the majority of diamonds are mined.
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| Check Presentation: Members of the DEF board pose with five students who graduated from two of three DEF-beneficiary schools (the Botwsana Top Achievers Program or African Leadership Academy) and who now are enrolled in various universities in the United States. L to R: student Tebogo Maruping, student Gomolemo Modise, DEF board member Ed Hrabak, DEF president Phyllis Bergman, DEF co-founder Russell Simmons, student Dhavni Tombush, student Joseph Munyambanza, DEF board member Ellen Haddigan, and student Kabo Kula. |
DEF’s GOOD Awards were given to diamond industry
legends Tiffany & Co. and Leo Schachter Diamonds (creator of the Leo
Diamond), and to international model and humanitarian Noella Coursaris Musunka.
Russell Simmons, music mogul/entrepreneur and
co-founder of the Diamond Empowerment Fund, emphasized the importance of the
diamond industry to give back and empower the communities where their precious
resources are found. “A strong Africa is an educated Africa. For the diamond
industry to be sustainable in the future, empowerment of youth through
education is essential.”
A distinguished and varied audience convened for the
GOOD Awards, including celebrities from the music, film, and fashion worlds.
Along with Simmons, the event drew celebrities Estelle, Jeffrey Wright, and
Selita Ebanks; global industry leaders Varda Shine and Stephen Lussier of De
Beers, Mike Kowalski of Tiffany & Co., Mark Light and Mike Barnes of Signet
(parent company of the Kay and Jared retail brands); and African ambassadors
from the diamond producing countries of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
Varda Shine, Executive Vice President of Global Sightholder Sales, De
Beers Group and another co-founder of DEF, added, “Education and the incubation
of leaders of the future must always be our social priority, as it is this that
leads to sustained progress, economic growth, and prosperity. Providing
unrestricted access to schooling is the first step in creating a virtuous
circle of development.”
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| Good Awards Party: New York’s hip nightclub LAVO was the site of the second annual GOOD Awards, a successful event honoring Tiffany & Co., Leo Schachter Diamonds, and African model/humanitarian Noella Coursaris Musunka. |
Phyllis Bergman, DEF board president, said, “We are encouraged by the
fabulous success of the 2013 GOOD Awards. This bodes well for the industry’s
future.”
The event was kicked off with an African ceremonial dance by native
Botswana dancers. The festivities continued after the Awards presentation by a
passionate performance by Grammy Award-winning artist Estelle, and music
continued throughout the evening with famed DJ M.O.S.
GOOD Awards sponsors for the evening included Tiffany & Co., Exelco
and JCK, and Empowerment Circle inaugural sponsors, the Dalumi Group,
Malca-Amit, Sterling Jewelers, and Leo Schachter Diamonds. The Empowerment
Circle is DEF’s new annual partnership program.
About the Diamond Empowerment Fund
The Diamond
Empowerment Fund is a New York based global non-profit organization (EIN#
20-5967103) that raises money to fund education initiatives in African
diamond-producing nations. Its beneficiaries include: CIDA City
Campus, South Africa’s first non-profit university to offer a
four-year business degree. CIDA has an
80% employment rate among graduates; the African Leadership Academy,
a university preparatory school in Johannesburg, South Africa, founded on the
belief that ethical leadership is the key to sustainable development on the
continent and drawing students from all 54 countries in Africa, and the Botswana Top Achievers program that provides the top high
school students countrywide the opportunity to study at a university of their
choice worldwide. Graduates then return to Botswana to contribute to its
economic, social and political development.
www.diamondempowerment.org.
