DEF to give $240K to educational institutions

Fashion model and Diamond Empowerment Fund Ambassador Flaviana Matata founded the Flaviana Matata Foundation, which will be the recipient of a $15,000 grant from DEF.New York--The Diamond Empowerment Fund announced Tuesday that its board of directors approved the granting of funds to its three existing beneficiaries--the African Leadership Academy, Botswana Top Achievers Program and CIDA City Campus--as well as an additional $15,000 donation to the Flaviana Matata Foundation.

DEF raised the funds, which total $240,000, during its Diamonds in the Sky event held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas this past May. The event was sponsored by a number of industry leaders, including De Beers, Rio Tinto, Signet Jewelers, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, KGK Group, Le Vian and Tiffany & Co.

CIDA City Campus is South Africa’s first nonprofit university to offer a four-year business degree. The school has an 80 percent employment rate among graduates.

The African Leadership Academy is a university preparatory school in Johannesburg that operates on the belief that ethical leadership is the key to sustainable development on the continent. The student body is comprised of students from all 54 countries in Africa.

The Botswana Top Achievers program provides the top high school students across the country with the opportunity to study at a university of their choice anywhere in the world, after which graduates return to Botswana to contribute to its economic, social and political development.

The new beneficiary, Tanzania-based Flaviana Matata Foundation, was founded by model and DEF ambassador Flaviana Matata to educate and improve the livelihood of youths in the country.

DEF will highlight scholars from each of the beneficiaries on its new consumer-facing website, DiamondsDoGood.com, which is currently being developed by the Condé Nast Media Group and is set to launch later this year.

“We are thrilled to be supporting these four amazing programs,” said Phyllis Bergman, president of DEF’s board of directors. “Each of these organizations has a mission of empowerment through education, which reflects the core of DEF’s mission. We are thankful for the support of our partners and look forward to continuing to spread the message that through the industry’s efforts, ‘Diamonds Do Good.’”

Scholars also will be in attendance at the upcoming 2015 Good Awards to be held on Jan. 8 in New York City, where the work of Jane Seymour and her Open Hearts Foundation, as well as David Rocha