David Sturmes-Verbeek

Co-founder and Director Business Innovation & Fundraising The Impact Facility

David Sturmes-Verbeek is the co-founder of The Impact Facility, with the mission of helping transform mineral wealth into lasting prosperity for local communities. 

He applied his background in International to help set up a blended-finance financial inclusion programme targetting artisanal gold miners across Kenya and Tanzania, providing lease-to-purchase equipment financing to artisanal miners excluded from formal financing. 

David has also been instrumental in developing and growing the Fair Cobalt Alliance, a multi-stakeholder action platform dedicated to uplifting artisanal cobalt mining communities in the DR Congo, leading fundraising efforts that led to more than USD 5 million in investment into the professioanlisation of artisanal mining operations since 2020. 

David co-authored several reports including “Digging for Change”, which laid the groundwork for the creation of the FCA, and a report investigating barriers to accessing the formal gold market, as well as various artisanal gold value chain mappings and case studies documenting financial inclusion efforts across Africa and South America. 

In his current role, David focuses on forging partnerships across civil society and the private sector and mobilising blended-finance investment for the socio-economic development of mining communities. Through his work David hopes to help create thriving and resilient mining communities.