Black Star: Rosalind Kainyah [Director of Public Affairs: De Beers Inc. USA]

[Rosalind Kainyah (left) Dr. Ronald L. Carter (center) and Sheila Khana (right) Photo by Calvin Ferguson]..

Rosalind Kainyah is an inspiration. She joined the De Beers Group in 2002 as Corporate and Commercial Legal Counsel at the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) [the Group’s subsidiary responsible for the sale and distribution of rough diamonds]; appointed Executive Director of Corporate Communications at DTC in July 2004 -and is at present their Director of Public Affairs [a role that represent the interests of the De Beers family of companies in the United States].

Prior to De Beers, Rosalind spent six years, from 1993 to 1999, as an international environmental lawyer, engaged by international and national organizations and institutions to advise governments on environmental policy and legislation, by the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, as its Environmental Counsel. From 1999 till 2002, she was a corporate lawyer at Linklaters, one of the magic circle (top five) law firms in the United Kingdom.

Rosalind overseas the economic growth objectives of the countries in which De Beers operates; notably the need to ensure that the natural resources of these countries are turned into shared national wealth; and the continuing international fight against HIV/AIDS. As part of this role, she focuses on engagement with representatives of the US Congress and the administration; multilateral agencies; civil society; the media; and other sources of influence in the US, on the role of business in Africa’s broader socio-economic development, using insights and lessons from De Beers’ experience.

Rosalind was educated in Ghana, West Africa and in England. She has a degree in English from the University of Ghana; Bachelor of Laws and Masters in Law degrees from the University of London; and is a member of the Bar of England and Wales. She is a member of G50, a self-help African business group based in London, consisting of African professionals focused on the repatriation of financial and intellectual capital to the Continent. She also serves as a trustee on the board of The Africa America Institute and on the board of Jewelers for Children.