Women in Mining UK (WIM) recently announced their fourth WIM100 list, which celebrates global inspirational women in mining. This year it included three women from De Beers Group.
The list is compiled every other year, to celebrate women who have gone ‘above and beyond,’ across any role, seniority or jurisdiction in the mining industry. The final 100 were chosen based on selection criteria, which included making a positive and impactful change to the industry, demonstrating leadership and empowering colleagues, and being resilient and determined.
This year WIM received a record 1,100 nominations, for over 600 women working across more than 350 companies. Three women from De Beers Group were included within the selected 100 list: Julie Kong in Canada- who heads up our exploration team, Kirsten Hund - who has recently joined De Beers Group as our carbon neutral lead in South Africa, and Michillay Brown - who works within Tracr in London.
Julie Kong
Julie Kong was appointed Head of Exploration for De Beers Group last year, having had over 30 years of experience in all aspects of diamond exploration. She has been involved in the discovery of kimberlite clusters resulting in the development of both our Victor and Gahcho Kue mines in Canada. She now leads a diverse team responsible for diamond exploration throughout Canada and Southern Africa and for providing geoscience expertise and laboratory services to the operations.
Working in mining is something that Julie enjoys because of “the variety and challenging work from field, stakeholder and community engagement, technical, laboratory, business planning, finance and negotiation, as well as the people, who are passionate, resilient, competent and dedicated.” Being selected within WIM100 has meant a great deal, as it enables her “to share my story and broaden my network, attract talent to the industry and to De Beers, and continue to develop a high performing team.”
Kirsten Hund
Kirsten Hund was nominated for WIM100 when she was in her previous role as Senior Mining Specialist at the World Bank in Washington DC; where she founded the ‘Climate Smart Mining Initiative’ and has recently joined De Beers as our Head of Carbon Neutrality.
Working in mining is something that Kirsten feels passionate about, “I like how tangible it is, and how it literally supplies the building blocks of our existence. The mining sector has to make sure it leaves a positive footprint, otherwise it cannot continue to do business.” She added, “I love the fact that it always requires you to engage with so many different stakeholders, and look at problems from a social, political, environmental, developmental, economical and engineering perspective simultaneously, to find lasting solutions. We have such a massive opportunity to make a difference.”
For Kirsten being selected for WIM100, “Is of course an honour (and a massive surprise!), and it’s an encouragement to try to do more. I know so many amazing women in the industry, and I am sure there could be many, many more. I am keen to support and work on that moving forward.”
Michillay Brown
Michillay started her career through Anglo American’s Building Leaders and Shaping Talent Graduate Programme in Technical and Sustainable Development in South Africa, before moving to London to gain experience in International & Government Relations. In 2019, she became Industry Transformation lead for our Tracr team, which is developing a Connected Value Chain Platform in collaboration with the diamond mining industry, to enhance consumer trust by assuring diamond provenance, traceability and authenticity.
Michillay was drawn to the mining industry from the beginning. “I was attracted to, and inspired by, the opportunity to be directly involved in the innovative changes that are being executed within the mining industry, in order to ensure responsible and ethical sourcing of goods and materials.”
For Michillay being chosen to be part of WIM100 means a lot, “As someone who has found themselves as a minority on multiple levels, stages and dimensions on my journey within the mining industry, being nominated as one of 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining is a massive milestone and achievement. I view this recognition as not only another voice at the table, but it gives me the platform to inspire and encourage the very many up-and-coming female leaders.” This is something that Michillay takes seriously, as outside of work, she co-founded ‘The Unlikely Role Model’ in 2016; a platform to empower South Africa’s youth to become the best version of themselves.
The full WIM100 list can be found here. Congratulations to all those who were nominated.