World Diamond Council Appoints Marie-Chantal Kaninda as New Executive Director

(IDEX Online) – The World Diamond Council's (WDC) Board of Directors has named Marie-Chantal Kaninda as Executive Director effective March 1, 2017. Kaninda replaces Patricia Syvrud, who steps down on February 28.

Kaninda brings to the organization over 20 years of industry marketing and stakeholder engagement experience, having worked for companies such as Anglo Gold Ashanti, De Beers and Rio Tinto, mostly in Africa, the WDC said in a statement.

A resident of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), she is fluent in French and English. Since 2012, she has served as the Chair of the Anti-Corruption Initiative for the private sector for the DRC. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Diamond Development Initiative and Procredit Equity Bank.

“We are thrilled to have someone with Ms. Kaninda’s background and experience take on the role of Executive Director of the WDC,” said WDC President Andrey Polyakov. “Her perspective will be invaluable to the industry work within the Kimberley Process reform initiative, which will take place this year and next.” He continued by saying, “We thank Patricia Syvrud for her professionalism and assistance in building the WDC into the organization it is today, and wish her the very best in her future endeavors.”

Kaninda will be providing overall leadership to the organization, liaising and developing relationships with key stakeholders, and coordinating the representation of the WDC within the Kimberley Process, in addition to general organizational management.