Malick Diagne received his BA in English from the University of Dakar and his Master's Degree in International Studies, with a concentration on Development, from Ohio University. He then lived and worked for more than twenty years in the United States, working exclusively in the nonprofit field.

In 2000, Malick returned to his native country, Senegal, and worked for eight years as Deputy Executive Director of Tostan. During his stay with Tostan, he reinforced the organizational structure of Tostan by a systematic process of decentralization, delegation and empowerment. He trained the personnel on the effective use of the computers, computerized all the accounting systems of Tostan, and set up systems of audit and internal control.

Malick was also responsible for the creation in 2003 of the Tostan talibe program, which he managed until 2008. Tostan’s work on the talibé issue prompted Malick to set up CAINT (Le Cadre  d’Appui à l’Initiative en Faveur des Talibés - The National Forum for Action on Behalf of Talibés), a coalition of 42 Senegalese and international organizations working to eradicate the talibé system of begging in Senegal. In 2008, Malick left Tostan to focus his attention on the talibé.

 Upon returning to the US, Malick set up a non-profit 501 (c3) organization called International Coalition for the Rights of Children (ICRC). This is in essence the fund development arm of the CAINT. ICRC is currently funded by DFID through the British NGO, AntiSlavery International, to implement a five year project, the goal of which is to end forced child begging in Senegal by 2015.