PASCAL launches IMPACT Program with Rising Academies and KOSSA in Sierra Leone

The partnership supports locally led education, sport and youth development programs that help young people realize their potential.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- PASCAL, the Los Angeles-born colored lab-grown diamond brand, today announced the launch of the PASCAL IMPACT Program, a partnership with Rising Academies and KOSSA supporting education, sport and youth development in Sierra Leone.

PASCAL believes brilliance is not found only in diamonds. It also lives in people through their resilience, creativity, talent and potential.

Lab-grown technology opens new possibilities for how diamonds can be imagined, bringing color, creativity, identity and self-expression to the forefront.

Sierra Leone has a complex history with diamonds, but its people and future are not defined by that history alone. For PASCAL, this partnership is an opportunity to help support a different diamond story, one shaped by education, sport and human potential. Through their locally grounded work, Rising Academies and KOSSA are helping young people build the skills, confidence and opportunities to shape their own futures.

"Colored diamonds have always been a way to express individuality," said Adam Hua, CEO of PASCAL. "With PASCAL IMPACT, we want to extend that idea of brilliance beyond the stone and recognize the potential already present in Sierra Leone. Our role is to support local organizations doing meaningful work and give our community a transparent way to take part."

The program brings together two partners with complementary areas of expertise. Rising Academies works with schools and public education systems to strengthen teaching and learning, while KOSSA uses sport and youth development to help build confidence, skills and stronger communities.

"Every child deserves the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Through this partnership with KOSSA and PASCAL, we can help more young people in Sierra Leone build the foundational skills, confidence and opportunities they need to shape their own futures. We're grateful to everyone helping make that possible." — Job Matseshe, Regional Director, Rising Academies

"Sport brings joy as well as developing healthier minds and bodies. KOSSA is grateful to work with PASCAL to bring much needed training equipment for after-school activity to the coaches, and boys and girls, we work with."— Antoine Likound, Partner, KOSSA

Customers can make an optional contribution through the dedicated PASCAL IMPACT page or during checkout when purchasing from PASCAL. At either touchpoint, customers can choose to support education or sport initiatives.

As collective contributions reach agreed milestones, PASCAL will work with Rising Academies and KOSSA to publish partner-approved PASCAL IMPACT Stories documenting how the support is being put into action.

Learn more about the PASCAL IMPACT Program at https://pascaldesign.com/pages/impact-story.

About PASCAL

PASCAL is a Los Angeles-born fine jewelry and watch brand specializing in colored lab-grown diamonds. Combining diamond-growing technology with contemporary design and meticulous craftsmanship, PASCAL explores the creative possibilities of color and transforms diamonds into modern expressions of individuality, identity, and self-expression. Through its watch and jewelry collections, PASCAL crafts colored diamonds for life's shiniest moments. Learn more at pascaldesign.com.

About Rising Academies

Rising Academies is an education organisation that partners with governments to improve teaching and learning at scale. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, Rising now supports more than 1,400 schools and 400,000 students across six countries, using proven teaching approaches alongside technology and AI to help children learn more. With 98% of its team based in Africa, Rising combines deep local expertise with evidence, innovation and strong government partnerships to build education systems where every child has the opportunity to thrive. Learn more at https://www.risingacademies.com/

About KOSSA

KOSSA is committed to unlocking the full potential of West Africa's next generation of football talent through ethical management, child safeguarding, and benchmarking world-class sports development. We nurture talent with care and character, building sustainable training infrastructures as they aspire toward professional athletic careers. KOSSA Nxt Gen is community impact focused - enabling sports at schools so that at a young age, both boys and girls have the opportunity to participate. Learn more at www.kossa.com

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PASCAL launches IMPACT Program with Rising Academies and KOSSA in Sierra Leone

- Students from 25 countries participated in the largest edition to date, engaging in global cultural exchange amid Budapest's rich historical and multicultural heritage

- Screening and awards ceremony featured K-Food dishes made with Jongga Kimchi, bringing film and food together in a cultural celebration

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The 6^th DAESANG Eat & Travel Film Festival (E.T.F.F.), a global university student smartphone film festival hosted annually by Daesang Group, concluded successfully with a screening and awards ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, on August 16.

Now in its sixth year, DAESANG E.T.F.F. is a global cultural exchange program reflecting the Group's core value of "Respect," bringing together university students from diverse cultural backgrounds to travel, collaborate, and create short films centered on the theme of food. This year, the festival expanded its reach beyond Asia to Europe and brought together students from a record 25 countries, further establishing the festival as a global platform for cultural exchange.

Budapest was selected as the festival's first European host city for its rich history and cultural diversity. As a major Central European city where Eastern and Western cultures have long intersected, Budapest provided participants from around the world with opportunities to experience different cultures, engage with one another, and find inspiration for their filmmaking.

The 48 university students from 25 countries across Asia, North America, Latin America, and Europe were selected through a highly competitive process and divided into eight teams of six. From August 4 to 16, the teams explored Budapest together. Over nearly two weeks, participants experienced local culture and cuisine while handling every stage of the filmmaking process themselves, from script development and filming to editing and promotion. Each team produced a smartphone short film of up to five minutes on the theme of food.

The completed films were unveiled at a screening held in Budapest on August 16. At the screening, guests were offered a selection of dishes made with products from Jongga, Daesang Group's global kimchi brand, including kimchimari guksu, kimchi jeon, kimchi bossam, kimchimari gogijjim, and kimchi gimbap. The event offered audiences an opportunity to experience kimchi, an iconic K-Food enjoyed worldwide, in a variety of ways. Bringing film and food together in a cultural celebration, the event was enthusiastically received by attendees.

One audience member at the screening said, "It was a special experience to enjoy kimchi dishes while watching films made by university students from around the world. I was particularly impressed by kimchi bossam, as the savory flavor of the meat complemented the rich flavor of the kimchi."

An awards ceremony followed the screening. The Grand Prize winner was selected based on evaluations by two professional judges, Um Tae-hwa, director of Concrete Utopia, and Professor Park Ji-hoon of the Seoul Institute of the Arts, as well as votes from the audience. Awards were also presented for Best Film, Best Promotion, Best Actor, and Best Participation.

Team "ONEderful" won the Grand Prize for Colors of Budapest and received KRW 10 million in prize money. Director Um Tae-hwa, who served as a judge, praised the film, saying, "The film stands out for its clever direction, capturing the fleeting moment of falling in love through vivid colors. In particular, the striking contrast between the green backdrop and the red rose brilliantly visualizes the characters' emotions."

Shim Hee-jun of Korea University, a member of the Grand Prize-winning team "ONEderful," said, "Rather than focusing on discrimination and hatred, we wanted to portray the process of respecting and understanding one another in a warm and heartfelt way through the themes of color and love."

The award-winning films and a behind-the-scenes video documenting the participants' filmmaking process will be released on the official DAESANG Eat & Travel Film Festival YouTube channel.

Choi Sung-soo, CEO of Daesang Holdings, said, "We successfully concluded our first European edition of the film festival. It was especially meaningful to see consumers from around the world enjoying a variety of kimchi dishes, reaffirming kimchi's growing prominence on the global stage. Going forward, we will continue to support young people around the world as they develop into globally minded individuals who embody the value of 'Respect.'"

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Daesang Group Successfully Hosts 6th University Student Smartphone Film Festival, Its First in Europe