FAQs: The Greener Diamond Foundation | MiaDonna

The Greener Diamond is the non-profit foundation of MiaDonna.
All purchases at MiaDonna passionately fund our foundation to support re-building diamond mining communities.

Learn more about The Greener Diamond Foundation.

Yes! The Greener DIamond Foundation is a public benefit 501(c)3.

MiaDonna and The Greener Diamond, our non-profit foundation, were created to work together as a system because we believe children do not belong on frontlines or in mines.

MiaDonna's conflict-free jewelry is the sustainable funding source for humanity projects, through our foundation.

A social enterprise is a for-profit business with a non-profit heart. It applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social, and environmental well-being.

MiaDonna was one of the social enterprises in America and the first in the diamond industry. Our Company was founded and is led by putting equal importance on people, profit, and the planet.

1. MiaDonna jewelry = Stops environmental and humanitarian destruction while simultaneously being the fundraiser for our foundation.
2. The Greener Diamond Foundation = Creates and funds projects to repair the damage of diamond mining.

MiaDonna exists to give back. As a foundation-first company, we take pride in being able to create change through mining community empowerment projects.

A minimum of 10% of our annual net profits are donated to The Greener Diamond Foundation, where funds are used to repair the land and lives damaged by the mining industry. Many years, we have donated more than 10% of our net profits based on the needs of the communities with whom we partner.

No, we do not take public donations. It is essential that The Greener Diamond Foundation is 100% funded by MiaDonna customers. Donations are a temporary band-aid, and we want to create a sustainable, long-lasting system for change.

ZERO! Beyond the 10% of net profits we give back, MiaDonna covers all the costs for the foundation, and our staff does all the work. Every penny goes toward the hard project costs.

In general, no! And that is what separates us. We are here for the long haul, to create the most significant impact possible. MiaDonna team members personally visit diamond mining regions of the world to learn precisely the issues from the locals, then we create our own projects to repair the damage.

The Greener Diamond’s primary focus is making mining communities sustainable outside of mining, and our projects consist of the following:

1. Teaching organic farming skills - because it is illegal to grow food in some areas where the ground is abundant in natural resources.
2. Supporting women's educational and mentorship projects - because we have learned that lifting a woman out of poverty has a multiplier effect.
3. Ongoing urgent relief projects - because we understand the need for emergency assistance during times of conflict.

Learn more about our initiatives.

A conflict diamond means many different things, and that is the problem.

The conflict diamond definition, as per the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), is a "rough diamond mined in an area controlled by insurgent forces whose sale is used to finance anti-government military action."

The main problem is this current definition of a "conflict diamond" does not include the humanitarian impact or the negative environmental consequences of traditional diamond mining. Unfortunately, this is what most consumers think a conflict diamond is, but legally it's only a diamond that funded war.

At MiaDonna, we have a broader definition: a conflict diamond is any diamond that is unsustainable, thereby contributing to a negative impact on the environment, society and/or economy.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was established in 2003 by the United Nations General Assembly as a way to stop conflict diamonds. However, too many grey areas and loopholes have made the KPCS work better as a marketing scheme to sell more earth-mined diamonds than it ever has to stop conflict diamonds.

The main issue with the Kimberley Process is the definition of a conflict diamond is too narrow. Per the KPCS, the conflict diamond is a “Rough diamond mined in an area controlled by insurgent forces whose sale is used to finance anti-government military action and to fund a war.” This current definition of a “conflict diamond” does not include the humanitarian impact or the negative environmental consequences of traditional diamond mining. This means a child still could have mined this diamond, or someone could have been enslaved or tortured to mine this diamond, which is now marketed to the consumer as "conflict-free" simply because it didn't directly fund anti-government action like war.

Our founder and CEO has been an activist against the Kimberley Process since 2005, and we will continue to educate consumers.