The Advisory Board
We are privileged to be supported by a diverse range of stakeholders committed to sharing their expertise to further our mission. Our Advisory Board is composed of professional third-party advisors with relevant experience in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. They offer non-binding advice to the FCA Secretariat and Steering Committee, providing valuable input and perspectives that help shape the FCA’s strategic direction. Their insights reasonably represent the viewpoints of artisanal-small scale stakeholders, contributing to more informed and inclusive decision-making.
The Advisory Board Members
Holger Grundel – Chair
Holger is a senior private sector development and natural resource governance expert with more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors. He held several senior advisory positions with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (formerly the Department for International Development – DFID) in Senegal, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the UK. He was DFID’s Global Lead for Extractive Industries, setting the department’s…
Auguste Mutombo
Auguste is the Founder and Executive Director of Alternatives Plus, a DRC-based civil society NGO that works to improve conditions in the artisanal mining sector.
Benitha Tambwe
Expert Head of Digitization and Partnerships, CTCPM, Ministry of Mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benitha holds a Master’s in Business Analytics and Finance from the University of Southampton and has consistently demonstrated her prowess in financial analysis, strategic planning and decision-making. She is Head of Digitization and Partnerships at the Cellule Technique de Coordination et Plannification Minière (CTCPM) of the Ministry of Mines of the Democratic Republic of…
Brieuc Debontridder
Brieuc is an expert in social performance standards and author of “ République démocratique du Cobalt “. He worked for six years on the resettlement and livelihood restoration of populations affected by mining projects, mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo but also in Senegal and Guinea. He also worked on a study on child labour in artisanal cobalt mines in the DRC. More recently, he worked for The Shift,…
Jared Connors
In his five years at Assent, Jared has focused on helping companies achieve their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals through increased understanding and mitigation of risk. With more than a dozen years of leadership in corporate social responsibility, human rights, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, and environmental issues, Jared helps guide companies into new areas of compliance and responsible sourcing. Jared personally led on-the-ground audits of more than 75 smelters as…
Nicole Hanson
A sustainability expert and current Head of Responsible Business at the London Metal Exchange, Nicole Hanson applies her background in mechanical engineering to help companies and their supply chains increase the positive impact they have on humans and the environment.
Nikolaus McLachlan
Nikolaus has six years’ experience working on sustainable supply chains on a variety of different agricultural and mineral commodities. He focusses on understanding and mitigating adverse social and environmental impacts in primary industries and improving supply chain sustainability. He currently works for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), leading various projects financed by the private sector, located across three continents, and focussed on sustainable natural resources. He is part of…
Olivier Delafoy
Photographer and Managing Director at the Corneille and Sima Group, the company responsible for the bimonthly DRC magazine Mining and Business, Olivier Delafoy has over two decades of experience working in the mining & metals industry.
Richard Robinson
Richard has 20 years of senior level experience in the DRC with a particular focus on managing political and social risk as an executive and adviser in DRC mining projects including as Managing Director of Alphamin Bisie Mining during its development from 2016 to 2020, a mine now producing 4% of the world’s conflict free tin. From 2011 through 2016 Richard served as Extractive Industries Technical Adviser for USAID DRC…
Sebastian Vetter
Sebastian is working with the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As an advisor in the field of technical cooperation, he has more than six years of experience in the implementation of international development projects in the region. His current work focuses on the establishment of responsible mineral supply…
Incepted in 2022, the Advisory Board meets with the FCA secretariat twice a year, and the meeting summaries are made publicly available. Click on the link below to access the minutes.