After a seven month search for an Executive Director, the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) has selected Nancy Orem Lyman as its new Executive Director and Vice President. A mutual decision taken by the DEF Governing Board and the Advisory Board, decided on her as the suited person. In her 20 year span of professional life in the industry, she has served as the Director of Consumer Confidence for the De Beers Group Marketing during her career at JWT Advertising, worked on various programmes with the United Nations for its UN Millennium Development Goals, and has first hand programmatic experience in Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, South Africa and Botswana. Nancy Orem Lyman has worked in areas of strategic planning, marketing, communications, corporate social responsibility, fund-raising and sustainable development.

Russell Simmons, Diamond Empowerment Fund Co-founder and Chairman of the DEF Advisory Board stated, “She brings to this important job the experience of the industry together with a firm commitment to the empowerment of people in Africa where diamonds are a natural resource.”

Nancy Orem Lyman affirmed, “I’m thrilled to be working with such an action-oriented organization dedicated to empowering the youth through education initiatives in diamond producing countries in Africa.”