About: Company & Team

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Nature’s Wealth is led by Cristina M. Villegas, a responsible sourcing industry veteran. She works on a project to project basis with exceptional global talent. Project teams are assembled based on the client needs and mineral geography. Please use the ‘Contact Us’ tab to send a query. 

For 20 years, I have worked across raw material value chains with global brands, industry associations, governments, communities, and local businesses to improve sustainability outcomes. For 15 years, I worked at the field level in partnership with global brands, mining communities, and other stakeholders. In 2025, I launched Nature‘s Wealth LLC to offer more direct consultancy advice to global companies. 

I am a global authority on responsible mineral sourcing, mineral due diligence, artisanal & small-scale mining (ASM), supplier diversification, effective engagement on child labor, and working within high-value material supply chain dynamics. I have worked with global brands and diverse producers across the following sectors: jewelry, beauty, tech (computer hardware, laptops, and mobile phones), electric vehicles, consumer home goods, and global food/ingredient supply chains. My extended biography is below. 

Please see our consultancy service offerings here. 

I have field-based work experience in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mongolia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. I have visited more than 60 countries.  

Responsible mineral sourcing 

• Child Labor Coalition (CLC): Through this forum, I contribute to realistic, progressive initiatives and regulations to close loopholes that allow for child exploitation in mineral supply chains.  

Jewelry industry reform

• Board Member, Community for Ethical Jewelry (formerly: Ethical Metalsmiths)
• Advisory Council Member, Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030 
• Member, Jewelers Vigilance Committee 
• Mentor, Women in Sustainable Luxury 

I volunteer some of my time with high-potential changemakers from the Global South who are working on unique or interesting supply chain challenges.  

• Founder and Director, Nature’s Wealth LLC. Through my company, I assist companies manage risks, build responsible sourcing programs, engage confidently within mining supply chains, and use their business decisions as opportunities for social impact.  

• Recurring Guest Faculty, Executive Course on Extractive Industries, Columbia University. 2021- current. 

• Responsible Raw Materials and Sustainability at Pact. From 2014 - 2025. For more than a decade, I helped build and then led Pact’s renowned responsible supply chain programs. I collaborated with global brands, mining companies and communities, governments, and others on sustainability and social impact collaborations. One of my most well known pieces of work is Moyo Gems, which continues to thrive. It has been featured in Paris Fashion Week, London's Selfridges, Vogue Magazine, the Financial Times, and in myriad fashion outlets. 

• Owner & Director. Catalyst Resources Development Group. From 2013-2016. I founded Catalyst Resources to offer sustainable supply chain advice to companies, industry associations, and governments that are interested in responsible sourcing. After immediate success and series of impactful projects, I was recruited to Pact, which operated the largest specialist programs in the world in minerals & development themes. (Conflict of interest agreement signed with Pact upon recruitment that required me to wind down my existing projects) 

• Senior Associate, Levin Sources. From 2010-2013.  I led projects with global brands to improve practical ESG performance with diverse global brands. Materials of focus: diamonds, colored gemstones, gold, tin, and petroleum.  Conducted mineral risk and materiality assessments to identify, document, prioritize, and then advise on corrective action regarding sustainability concerns and issues.  Led environmental engagements, global studies, and practitioner toolkits. I further served as the Technical Director of the ASM PACE Program with WWF, which focused on ASM taking place in Protected Areas and Critical Ecosystems (PACE). This involved conducting and overseeing ASM field studies in Gabon, Liberia, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone where there were active conservation conflicts. 

• Extractive Industries Advisor, WWF Uganda and WWF Central Africa. From 2010-2011. Supported WWF Uganda and its local stakeholders to engage pragmatically and productively with large international petroleum (oil) companies in a conflict-sensitive, high-value conservation context.  Assisted local communities to understand the production cycles and associated risks and engage strategically with both governments and companies. Assisted WWF Central Africa on a global conservation study to collect the lessons of prior practitioners that interacted with ASM in conservation contexts, and to recommend actionable ways forward. 

• Development Officer, Fund for Global Human Rights. From 2005-2009. Raised private funds for this then-startup organization that made specialized, high-impact grants supporting human rights movements worldwide. It was here that I developed a personal interest in where mineral supply chains began as I began learning about the local people affected when international industry is not properly engaged. 

• Development & Communications Manager, Women & Philanthropy. 2003-2005. Served multiple roles within this organization that promoted gender-transformative approaches within the US philanthropy. I developed an expertise in gender inclusive and transformational programming. 

• Consultant, World Bank Group, 2002-2004. Backstopped various infrastructure programs in Guatemala and Venezuela. I developed foundational expertise on implementing multilateral development projects internationally. 

• London School of Economics (LSE), London, UK. 2010. MSc. Human Rights with a focus in Natural Resources, Gender, and African Development. 
• University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, CA, USA. 2003. B.A. Latin American Studies (Distinction with Honors) and B.A. Public Policy. Minor in Economics: Environmental Economics, Energy Economics, Law. 
• Ongoing education: I have completed additional graduate-level online coursework from: Harvard University (conservation management); the School of Oriental & African Studies / SOAS (corporate supply chain & responsibility approaches), and Edumine (various technical mining topics). 

• American Society of Mining Engineers
• American University 
• Brigham Young University 
• Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter 
• Columbia University's Executive Course on Extractives 
• Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference 
• FairLuxury 
• Gemological Institute of America (GIA) 
• Gemological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A) 
• Georgetown University
• Goldsmith Centre London  
• Harvard University 
• Initiatives in Arts and Culture (IAC) 'All that Glitters' Conference 
• International Colombian Emeralds Conference, Dubai 
• JCK Vegas
• MJSA 
• Mujeres Brilliantes Internacional (MUBRI)
• New York University (NYU) 
• OECD Responsible Minerals Forum
• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
• Society of Economic Geologists 
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) 
• US Geological Survey National Mineral Information Center (USGS NMIC) 
• US Department of Labor (USDOL) 
• US Department of State (USDOS) 
• Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
• World Bank 

Cristina M. Villegas is a double award-winning mineral sector reformer and global authority on responsible mineral supply chains. She is the Founder & CEO of Nature’s Wealth, a private consultancy focused on responsible mineral sourcing and social impact. 

For more than a decade, Cristina led the nonprofit Pact’s international responsible sourcing programs, where she worked with global retail brands on complex supply chain issues, from engaging on modern slavery to transformative economic development in mineral host communities. She oversaw the largest ASM programs in the world. Under her 9 years of leadership, each year, more than 150-200,000 artisanal miners were served annually across 10-14 countries. She has also assisted more than 50,000 child miners permanently exit mining and access schooling in Africa and Latin America. 

Cristina teaches annually at Columbia University’s Executive Course on Extractives and Sustainable Development alongside luminaries such as Jeffrey Sachs and UNECA’s Antonio Pedro. She leads all sessions on ASM, from cooperation strategies between ASM-LSM, to key trends in the sector, product commercialization, to gender in mining. 

Cristina is most known for her reform-oriented work in the jewelry sector. She co-founded the Moyo Gems program in 2019; see www.moyogems.com. Cristina’s jewelry work and commentary has been featured in Vogue, the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, JCK, Wired, Forbes, National Jeweler, among others. She brings 20 years of experience across diverse materials, from diamonds to rubies, salt to sand. In 2024, she was selected as one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Mining by Women in Mining UK. Cristina is based in North America. 

In 2025, Cristina launched Nature’s Wealth, LLC (www.natureswealth.org) to assist global companies to reduce business risks and maximize positive social impacts in global jewelry and critical minerals supply chains. Clients include global retail brands, research institutions, regional nonprofit groups, business and industry associations, jewelry leadership organizations, and private individuals. 

Cristina has a double BA with Distinction and Departmental Honors from UC San Diego. She has a MSc. from the London School of Economics and has completed ongoing education coursework at Harvard University.