Whiteflash Social Responsibility

The business community has a central role in making the world a better place for all. Companies have a unique opportunity to positively impact the communities in which they operate by raising awareness among their own staff, their vendors and their customers of important issues affecting an increasingly interconnected world.

Whiteflash sees that as both an opportunity and a responsibility. Because we can make a difference, we have a social obligation to try to do so. Because we can make a difference, we are motivated and energized to explore ways that we can positively impact our planet and our fellow man.

A baseline commitment that must first be met by any responsible diamond company is an unequivocal pledge to actively avoid any diamond not coming through legitimate sources. Whiteflash takes that responsibility very seriously and deals only in legitimately sourced, conflict free diamonds. We buy only from suppliers who pledge to operate in strict compliance with the Kimberley Process and who support United Nations Resolutions prohibiting the trade in diamonds that fuel conflict.

Whiteflash supports Jewelers for Children by dedicating the profits from a unique line of themed jewelry to fund our contribution. We have created a special page to feature the Dreams of Africa collection. Sales of these items provide the funding for our contribution to Jewelers for Children. This wonderful organization partners with the Make a Wish Foundation and several other great children’s charities. As members of the American Gem Society, Whiteflash is proud to support a great cause that is near and dear to AGS and to the jewelry industry in general.

As the industry’s charity, Jewelers for Children (JFC) is generously supported by those who create and sell fine jewelry and watches. Manufacturers, retail jewelers, trade associations, watch companies and those who provide professional services to the jewelry industry unite on behalf of children.

Since 1999, more than $ 45 million has been invested in special program to reach children whose lives have been devastated by catastrophic illness or life-threatening abuse and neglect.

Over the years Whiteflash has developed a framework for engagement in the area of social responsibility that centers on our membership in the United Nations Global Compact. The UN Global Compact is an organization that brings together businesses (over 8,000 companies and 150 countries) for the purpose of coordinating efforts to address the pressing issues and challenges of our time. The work is focused in the areas of human rights, fair labor practices, sustainable environmental practices, and anti-corruption efforts. It also serves as a sort of roadmap for Whiteflash in finding the best ways to apply our resources to efforts in these areas.

Through our membership in UN Global Compact we add our support to a network of like minded companies working toward these larger goals. We are also able to make direct, targeted donations to emergency causes that require the world community to come together in situations requiring immediate action. For instance, we were able to make direct cash contributions to emergency funds to help control the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and for relief to devastated communities affected by the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal.

Through the auspices of the United Nations, the success of the Millennium Development Goals dramatically demonstrates what can be achieved when governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations come together in a collaborative and coordinated way to address big challenges. The progress made in 15 years in addressing extreme poverty, sanitation, and education is nothing short of remarkable. Much work is obviously still to be done, but all those involved have a clear vision of the path ahead and are motivated by the extent of the initial achievements.

The Kimberley Process is a certification and tracking regimen put in place to verify that rough diamonds have been sourced through legitimate means. This effort which represented an historic coming together of governments, industry and NGO’s has been highly successful in stemming much of the conflict diamond problem. We at Whiteflash feel that endorsement and adherence to the KP should certainly be a basic expectation for any company selling diamonds. But it is not enough. That is why we take it a big step forward by proactively supporting efforts aimed at beneficiation of those doing this work at the raw resource level of our industry.

Our support of the Diamond Development Initiative fits the UN framework and is also highly related to our industry in its dedication to artisanal diamond miners and their communities. These are largely rural and poor communities that have been the victims of serious human rights abuses over the years. While highly mechanized “big dig” mining is highly controlled, secured and monitored, artisan miners are essentially diggers using hand tools to comb river beds and other surface areas where diamonds have been scattered about through erosion. Because of the nature of this type of diamond “mining”, these folks have been subject to forces who seek to exploit them. Targeted support for these communities by the DDI is aimed at giving the artisanal miners a voice and returning a fair portion of the profits from the diamond resource to fund health and education and to encourage business and community development in these areas.

In exploring other ways that we might be of service to people in rural diamond mining areas we came across another fabulous initiative. The Gravity Light is an ingenious product designed and developed by some amazing people as a means of eliminating the use of the kerosene lamp and the cost, dangers and environmental damage it entails. Some 1.3 billion people on the planet do not have access to electricity or only sporadic access. For most of those people the improvised kerosene lamp is their solution for indoor lighting. In addition to the toxic fumes, fire hazard, and large release of greenhouse gasses, connected with the use of kerosene, the financial cost associated with the fuel for the very poor can create a cycle of poverty that prevents escape. This is the problem that the developers of the Gravity Light went about to try to solve. Through ingenuity, hard work and perseverance they created a device that can light a home without fuel or batteries of any kind. It is powered by the ever-present force of gravity. And they have figured out how to manufacture it for $6 per unit- the price at which mass distribution becomes viable. It is a price that pays for itself within weeks of first use and without any of the dangers or ill effects of kerosene.

Whiteflash is a supporter of the Gravity Light Initiative which has tremendous promise for significantly improving the lives of children and families in the diamond mining areas of Africa and all over the globe. Take a few minutes to learn about the development of Gravity Light from Jim Reeves, the technical director of the project. It is quite inspiring!

Whiteflash has leveraged our membership in the DDI to introduce that organization to the Gravity Light, a connection that may help to spread the product and its benefits to communities of artisanal diamond miners.

As specialists in diamonds of the finest cut quality, we are experts in light performance. It is therefore almost poetic that we join put our support behind another provider of extraordinary light performance!

We care about making a difference in the world. Our mission is more than making and keeping customers. More than providing excellent products and services. And more than just providing good jobs and a healthy workplace. It is important to us that we also make a positive contribution to the health and well being of our neighbors and our planet.