DEF Honors Supermodel Noella Coursaris Musunka for GOOD

DIAMOND EMPOWERMENT FUND TO HONOR

INTERNATIONAL SUPERMODEL AND HUMANITARIAN

NOELLA COURSARIS MUSUNKA

New York, NY: December 4, 2012– The Board of Directors of the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) announced today that Noella Coursaris Musunka, international model and founder of the Georges Malaika Foundation, will be honored at the Second annual GOOD Awards, set for January 10, 2013, 6:30 p.m. at Lavo in New York City.

Musunka, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will be presented the GOOD Award for her outstanding leadership and contributions to educate and empower young girls in the Congo through the Georges Malaika Foundation that she established in 2006.  Noella’s achievements combine the fortunes of a successful global modeling and fashion career with a passion for ensuring education for girls in Africa to lift themselves out of poverty. In her fashion career, she has graced the covers and editorial pages of Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Essence, GQ, and Esquire, to name just a few.   In her humanitarian role, she has been featured in a 30-minute special on CNN’s African Voices and CNN Connect the World. She has also addressed UNICEF and the Congolese Parliament about issues confronting underprivileged girls and most recently addressed the 2012 Opening Plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

Noella Coursaris Musunka will join global luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. and Leo Schachter Diamonds as the three honorees at the 2013 GOOD Awards. There will be a musical performance by Grammy-Award winning artist Estelle with renown DJ M.O.S. providing music throughout the evening.  Expected guests include Russell Simmons, Dr. Benjamin Chavis and Varda Shine, all co-founders of DEF.  Phyllis Bergman, president of the DEF Board, will serve as master of ceremonies.

The GOOD Awards, established by the Diamond Empowerment Fund in 2012, are the highest awards to recognize individuals and corporations in the diamond and jewelry industry for outstanding leadership in the areas of good corporate citizenship, sustainability, and promoting opportunity in Africa.

For more information on tickets, journal ads and sponsorship packages please visit www.goodawards.org.

About the Diamond Empowerment Fund

The Diamond Empowerment Fund is a New York based 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, 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, the Flaviana Matata Foundation, based in Tanzania, and supporting young girls and women with grants to cover education, including vocational training,  micro-finance and entrepreneurial activities 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.