Pamela Fierst-Walsh, formerly the U.S. State Department’s point person on conflict diamonds, has joined De Beers Group as vice president of government affairs for North America, she announced on LinkedIn.

Fierst-Walsh worked in the State Department for 17 years, serving as senior adviser on conflict and critical minerals and U.S. representative to the Kimberley Process from 2017 to 2021. (JCK interviewed her in 2018.) After leaving State, she became vice president of traceability for PVH Corp., parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

At De Beers, Fierst-Walsh will be part of the new government affairs team headed by Emma Wade-Smith, OBE, the former consul general for the U.K. embassy in Washington, D.C., who was hired by De Beers in February.

Wade-Smith’s team also includes Shridaran Pillay, De Beers’ new vice president of government affairs for the U.K. and European Union. He previously was U.K. public policy manager for Meta, owner of Facebook. James R. Innes, who used to work in the U.K. Parliament and at various think tanks, joined De Beers in October as government affairs specialist.

“We have a fascinating set of issues to get stuck into here at De Beers Group,” Wade-Smith wrote on LinkedIn. “Looking forward to a jam-packed year ahead.”

(Photo courtesy of Pamela Fierst-Walsh)

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