Diamond Empowerment Fund™ (D.E.F) now has an Ambassador Program for D.E.F. called Africa’s Angels. The Angels will be selected for their compassion, commitment to D.E.F.’s mission, and their ability to leverage their influence, contacts and celebrity to raise awareness and funds in support of the organization’s vision to help Africans help Africa though education that empowers and provides tangible skills to help build lives.

The Africa’s Angels program launched in fall of 2008 with the appointment of South African-born supermodel Nicola Breytenbach. The summer of 2009 saw reality television star and celebrity, Kim Kardashian becoming Africa’s Angel. In 2010, DEF added 2 other Angels, Selita Ebanks and Flaviana Matata. In 2011, Rahma M became our newest Angel.

Angels are selected by D.E.F’s Advisory Board Chairman, Russell Simmons.

Joseph "Rev Run" and Justine Simmons, Nicola Breytenbach-Steiner, Kim Kardashian and Russell Simmons.

photo courtesy of Johnny Nunez.

Africa’ Angel’s Ambassador’s, Nicola and Kim pictured above attending the Diamond For Africa dinner hosted by Hearst Corp and  Diamond Information Center for the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

Click here to find out more details about ANGELS!

And it all started when Nicola’s mother’s hairdresser spotted her and managed to convince her to see a modelling agent in Amsterdam when she was 14. Born in Durban, South Africa, raised in Europe, and now residing in the United States, Nicola got her big break when she was appointed as Dior’s in-house model and it wasn’t long before she turned into one of the hottest ramp models in Europe. But the excitement didn’t stop there. A few years later she was approached by Trump Models in New York and moved her life to The Big Apple.

Within months she joined Trump Models, owned by Donald Trump, and landed a contract with cosmetics giant, Revlon, as the face for their Absolutely Fabulous campaign. Mr. Trump also handpicked Nicola to appear in the second and third season of the popular reality TV series, The Apprentice.

She says the most challenging part about modeling at that time was maintaining a balance between her career and personal life. Downtime for Nicola means being able to relax with her husband, Ben Steiner and toddler daughter Evangeline, and family and friends. She loves painting and cooking and is increasingly spending more time and energy working for her favorite charity, the Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.), in her role as the organization’s first Angel Ambassador.

Kardashian grew up with an almost fairy-tale childhood. She was the second child, born to Kris and prominent defense attorney Robert Kardashian. Her parents had four children at the time of their divorce. Her mom eventually married famous Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Jenner, who also had four children, and they became a modern day Brady Bunch. Bruce and Kris had two more children together, bringing the extended family of children to ten.

Kardashian first feature film, DISASTER MOVIE, for Lionsgate stars Carmen Electra, Matt Lanter and Vanessa Minnillo. The comedy, a spoof of recent films, follows an unsuspecting group of twenty-somethings who find themselves bombarded by a series of natural disasters and catastrophic events.

In September 2008, Kardashian competed on the ABC hit series “Dancing with the Stars” where she was paired with defending Champion Mark Ballas.

Kardashian will also be seen on The N’s series “Beyond the Break,” and has continual hosting stints on E! Entertainment Tonight/The Insider and EXTRA. She has also appeared on “The Simple Life,” and “How I Met Your Mother.” Se is currently producing her first show called “Crisis Control.”

Employing her entrepreneurial business skills, Kardashian started on her own as a fashion stylist and became and immediate sought after wardrobe stylist for infomercials, television shows, music videos and photo shoots. But it was her organizational, orderly arrangement and construction of high fashion closets that led Kardashian into a unique line of work overhauling and designing closets for celebrities.

In 2006, together with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe, Kardashian opened the designer clothing store DASH in Calabasas, California; a must-shop-at store for those with discriminating, yet fashionable taste.

Kardashian will launch her own perfume in 2009 through New Wave Fragrances. It will be available in the United States, Germany, Australia, England and Japan. Her online shoe company, ShoeDazzle.com, launched in March and will provide affordable, fashionable shoes to its members.

kimkardashian.com, Kardashian’s official website gets 6 million page views a month, making it the fastest growing celebrity blog on the web. The site is updated daily and includes frequent blogs from Kardashian, her appearances in the press, beauty tips and relationship advice and the sale of her workout video “Kim Kardashian’s Body Beautiful,” which she created with her trainer Kathy Kaehler. The workout targets 4 different body parts and can be downloaded individually or purchased as the whole workout on a DVD. Some of the proceeds from the video will benefit the Westside Guild of Ararat Home in Los Angeles, an Armenian convalescent/old age assisted living facility and the AFESIP, which combats trafficking in women and children sold for sex slavery. She is currently filming a new fitness DVD for Watch It Now Entertainment, which will be available in 2009.

When not working, Kardashian gives her time to charitable causes. She is a Dream Foundation ambassador which grants last wishes to terminally ill adults and does regular sales on Ebay to generate donations for the charity. She also recently completed PSA’s about the political plight in Burma and Breast Cancer awareness and also participated in a photo shoot promoting the “Until There’s A Cure” bracelet dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS by raising awareness and funds to combat the pandemic.

Kardashian currently makes her home in Los Angeles.

WATCH KIM ON E! NEWS

Born in Saudi Arabia to Kenyan and Somali parents, she immigrated to Norway as a child due to the Somali civil war. Her background, combined with her experiences as a Somali-Norwegian child growing up in Oslo, gave her a unique insight into how the wider world treats its most vulnerable citizens. This set the course for her to change her destiny. Moving to London to study a B.A in Peace and Conflict a modelling agent soon noticed her striking looks and it wasn’t long before she was jetting around the world, juggling her studies with jobs for Halston and Alberta Feretti.

In the course of her rising fame, she has managed to affiliate her dedication to human rights with fashion. She walks for Naomi Campbell’s “fashion for relief” shows during LFW and appeared in the White ribbon alliance show for Sarah Brown.

Having recently ended her B.A and now doing her M.A, she will be back on the catwalks next season with a degree under her tightly clinched belt and an ambition to eventually set up a charity that empowers young girls who haven’t yet had the opportunities in life that she has.

Rahma expresses her joy in her own words:

“I would like to express my gratitude and excitement to be chosen as an African Angel Ambassador for the Diamond Empowerment Fund. The successful mission of D.E.F correlates to my dedication and commitment through my years of studies, to empower those who are economically disadvantaged through education. Having been given an opportunity to flee the civil war in Somalia, and gain a degree in Europe, I have always strived for the ability to give back.”

In 2010, Flaviana became an Angel Ambassador for the Diamond Empowerment Fund and has spent time visiting D.E.F.’s beneficiary schools in Johannesburg, as well as making several appearances on behalf of the cause. Her next assignment is to be a special correspondent to the ALA DEF Scholars who have graduated and are now studying at university in the United States, and working with DEF Scholars from Tanzania on service projects around education and treatment for Malaria.

Flaviana was born and raised in the diamond mining community of Shinyanga, Tanzania and is deeply dedicated to helping the D.E.F. to fulfill its mission of empowering African youth through access to education. In her own words, she expresses her determination:

“When I was asked to visit African Leadership Academy and CIDA City Campus I had no clue as to what to expect. But the more I learnt about the schools the more exited and honored I got about the visit. The two schools have the same goal, but structured differently, each with its own unique and amazing characteristics. The most important thing is that I am glad I am part of this rewarding program. As a Diamond Empowerment Fund Angel Ambassador I will make sure the kids of Africa get the best education through DEF and other avenues.”

For more on Flaviana Matata’s work with DEF:

• Russell Simmons & the DEF Board toast Flaviana Matata
• DEF’s new Angel Flaviana visits CIDA and ALA