Our mission is to end the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining

Mr. Jim Bickel serves as the Financial & Executive Advisor. Jim served in a wide variety of senior management and Board oversight positions for both private and public companies. He was appointed CEO and President of Redwood Group International in January 2006 and has been Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors since January 2007. Mr. Bickel possesses over 40 years of experience in sales and senior management positions. In 2008, Mr. Bickel helped startup gold mining company Mongolia Resources Corporation (MRC), serving as Director. Mr. Bickel led the $14M financing to establish MRC’s Mongolia operations, listing the company on the ASX soon thereafter. He is well versed in the unique management and oversight needs of publicly traded companies, having served as a director and officer of several public firms.

Mr. Ezekiel Bahebe is the father of Mwamba Co-founder, Samwel Bahebe, and serves as the company’s Tanzania Advisor. Ezekiel spent his early career working in the Tanzania Revenue Authority before entering the financial services industry and establishing his own tax and auditing firm in 1992. Today Ezekiel and the Bahebe Family are highly regarded Tanzanian industrialists with three distinct businesses in Tanzania; a customs brokerage based in Tanzania’s capital, the port city of Dar es Salaam; a construction business, based in Mwanza, Tanzania; and a tax and auditing firm, also located in Mwanza, Tanzania. In October of 2020, Mr. Bahebe renewed his involvement with the public-sector as Ward Counselor to President Magafuli and Mayoral-Candidate to Mwanza, Tanzania. Mwanza is an affluent fishing and mining city at the heart of Northern Tanzania’s Lake Victoria Gold Fields nearby to many of Tanzania’s most noteworthy gold discoveries and mining operations.

Michelle brings first-hand experience Gold Mining in Tanzania; serving as General Manager of Acacia’s Bulyanhulu Gold Mine from 2014 to 2015, COO of Acacia Mining (Barrick Gold’s Tanzanian subsidiary) in 2015, and Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) of Barrick Gold in 2016. Today, Michelle is the CEO of GEOVIA at Dassault Systèmes where she contributes to the mining sector with a focus on Innovation Strategy, Technology and Digital Transformation. As Chair of the Global Mining Guidelines Group Michelle contributes to developing best practices and guidelines for the implementation of technology and socially enabled changes in the Mining industry. In 2016, Michelle was named to the 2016 list of “100 Global Inspriration Women in Mining” by Women in Mining in UK. Michelle is involved in leading efforts to use technology to innovate and reform the mining sector, serving as Chairperson of Behault Mining BV and on the advisory boards of Minespider, Stratum AI, INDIMIN, and PETRA Data Science.

Mr. John Youle serves as Mwamba’s Corporate Affairs Advisor as of August 2020. He has worked in mining for almost two decades, first as General Manager of ConsultAndes, SA, a Lima, Peru-based firm that provides strategic counsel primarily to international natural resources companies, and subsequently as VP Corporate Affairs for Lumina Group companies Anfield Nickel (2010-16), Lumina Copper (2011-14), Anfield Gold (2016-17), Lumina Gold (2014-present), and Luminex Resources (2018-present). Mr. Youle grew up in South America, Europe and the United States. He has a B.A. from Dartmouth College, J.D. from Northwestern University, and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Mr. Jon Kimmins serves as Senior Financial Advisor. Jon is a seasoned senior-executive and CFO with 35 years of experience working with companies and partnering with a management teams to deliver results, manage capital and maximize profits. Jon was recently the CFO for Tailored Brands (formerly Men’s Warehouse), a $35 Billion retailer of men’s apparel. He has led financing functions for larger companies such as Toys “R” Us and Macy’s, as well as a young startup offshoot of Li & Fung that grew eight-fold over four plus years. Jon has also started his own company to develop residential real estate in New Jersey. Jon holds a BS in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University.

Damian has 7+ years of experience as a Mining and Planning Engineer for Acacia’s Buswagi Gold Mine, the single largest open-pit mining operation in Tanzania. Damian provides Mwamba with strategic planning and personnel placement assistance.

Bruce recieved his PhD in Economics from Harvard and formerly served as Chairman of the Dartmouth Economics Department. He has a thorough understanding of capital markets cultivated by commercial experience owning and managing private banks. Bruce is Mwamba's first investor and, through his advisory, has played a key role in Mwamba's evolution.