Gemfields, the conservation-minded supplier of colored gemstones, has debuted a new charitable division to identify and fund community projects in the sub-Saharan African communities that host the company.

Gemfields has been operating mines in Africa for a decade, and with the launch of the Gemfields Foundation, the company is formalizing its charitable initiatives to better manage and scale up projects aimed at alleviating poverty in host communities—and furthering vital conservation efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.

The company has spearheaded and facilitated several charitable initiatives over the years; it aided the funding of a new classroom block for a primary school in Zambia and provided satellite collars to lions, also in Zambia, to help protect them from poachers.

So far, the foundation has arranged giving footballs to primary school students and the creation of a toilet block at the Kapila Primary School in Zambia.

The foundation is overseen by an international board of seven trustees, chaired by private wealth and family office executive Philippe Lamblin. Also on the board: Singapore-based Richa Goyal Sikri, a business strategist, journalist, and gem enthusiast; Dr. Sixtus Mulenga, chairman of Kagem Mining Limited; Samora Machel Jr., chairman of Montepuez Ruby Mine; Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields; Jack Cunningham, Gemfields’ director of sustainability, policy, and risk; and Emily Dungey, director of marketing and communications for Gemfields and managing director of the Gemfields Foundation.

“Having seen firsthand the difference Gemfields’ community projects have made to people’s lives, and having witnessed the depletion of African wildlife within my own lifetime, it is clear that more must be done,” Dungey said in a statement.

More information about the Gemfields Foundation can be found here.

Top: Zambian children in a Gemfields mine host community (photo courtesy of Gemfields)

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