Maintaining Purpose
IAC’s 13th Annual Gold + Diamond Conference
July 17 – 19, 2023
Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73rd St, New York, NY
At Maintaining Purpose, leading experts took a wide-ranging look at the jewelry, precious metals, and diamond industries. Jewelry was our lens, with a twin focus on artistry and responsible practice. A focus, we suggest, unique to IAC.
All of us, from those upstream in supply chains to those realizing an artistic vision in fine jewelry, must maintain purpose: we must do the work, ever-committed to effecting the change we seek.
Thus, conscious of the imperative to balance the needs of current and future generations, we explored varied declarations of purpose and principle on responsible practice and cultural preservation and how to harmonize and operationalize them, taking action, driven by aspiration. We considered new technologies for extraction and sourcing, new mine-to-market models, and new approaches to training, whether the next generation of jewelers or miners. Always with an eye to meeting evolving environmental and climate challenges.
Perhaps most fundamentally, we investigated the critical question of what constitutes luxury in an age of responsible practice.
The conference was highlighted by the participation of jewelers Silvia Furmanovich, Satta Matturi, and Pippa Small.
During the conference, IAC presented its 6th annual award for Leadership in Responsible Practice and 3rd annual award for Outstanding Contributions to the Diamond and Jewelry Industries.
CIBJO is IAC’s Conference Partner for Maintaining Purpose.
Protecting intellectual property: CIBJO Industry Voices
We express sincere gratitude to our sponsors:
Program agenda
All times, events, speakers, and presentation titles subject to change.
Monday, July 17, 2023
| 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. | Opening reception
Heritage Auctions Welcoming remarks. Roberta Kramer (VP | Strategy & Business Development) |
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
| 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. | Registration and coffee |
| 9:00 – 9:15 a.m. | Opening remarks. Lisa Koenigsberg (President / Founder, Initiatives in Art and Culture) |
| 9:15 – 10:15 a.m. | Global expectations and sustainability: Language, legislation, regulation, and transformation
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| 10:20 – 11:20 a.m. | Action vs. aspiration: Beyond pledges and commitments
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| 11:25 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. | Origins: Achieving transparency in a transformational age
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| 12:25 – 1:25 p.m. | Lunch (on your own) |
| 1:25 – 2:10 p.m. | Jeweler Satta Matturi. In conversation with Rob Bates & Lisa Koenigsberg. |
| 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. | Ensuring a future for independent makers (and offering choice to consumers)
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| 3:15 – 3:35 p.m. | Break |
| 3:35 – 4:35 p.m. | Responsibly sourced gold: Options and challenges
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| 4:40 – 5:40 p.m. | Protecting intellectual property: CIBJO Industry Voices
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| 5:40 – 7:30 p.m. | Reception and conversation with jeweler Pippa Small
Award ceremony Awarding of the Sixth Responsible Practice in Jewelry Leadership Award (to recognize a member of the jewelry industry, or a jewelry-focused organization that has made a transformational contribution to ethical sourcing and responsible practices in the worldwide gem and jewelry industry); third award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Diamond and Jewelry Industries (reflecting IAC’s belief in collaboration, community, and commitment, and is intended to recognize and honor extraordinary ongoing engagement and dedication to the realization of positive change in these industries) |
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
| 8:00 – 8:20 a.m. | Registration and coffee |
| 8:20 – 8:30 a.m. | Opening remarks |
| 8:30 – 9:45 a.m. | Transitioning to low- or zero-carbon methods without subjecting at-risk communities to new socioeconomic injustices
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| 9:50 – 11:00 a.m. | Reducing the environmental impact of gold extraction: Defining best practices
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| 11:05 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. | Reconceptualizing mine to market: The Cruzeiro approach
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| 12:20 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch (on your own) |
| 1:30 – 2:15 p.m. | Jeweler Silvia Furmanovich. In conversation with Lisa Koenigsberg. |
| 2:20 – 3:20 p.m. | Government, governance, and managing risk in ASGM/ASM
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| 3:25 – 4:30 p.m. | Training the next generation in the jewelry and mining sectors. Where do we go from here?
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| 4:30 – 4:45 p.m. | Closing remarks. Lisa Koenigsberg |
Participants
- Jewelers Jess Busiashvili (OX), Laís Demarchi (Verachi), Richard Fiszman (Fiszman Jewel Studio), Silvia Furmanovich (Silvia Furmanovich), Bliss Lau (Bliss Lau), Satta Matturi (Matturi Fine Jewellery), David Rees (Jewelry designer, TENTHOUSANDTHINGS), Pippa Small (Pippa Small Jewellery), and Lorraine West (Lorraine West Jewelry; member, Black in Jewelry Coalition [BIJC])
- Nanz Aalund (Goldsmith, jewelry designer, and author, Masters: Gold and A Jeweler’s Guide to Apprenticeships)
- Gracelin Baskaran (Nonresident Fellow – Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative, University of Cambridge)
- Paul W. Bateman (President, International Cyanide Management Institute)
- Rob Bates (News Director, JCK)
- Steven Benson (Communications Director, CIBJO)
- Charlie Betts (Group Managing Director, The Betts Group)
- Edward Bickham (Senior Advisor, World Gold Council)
- David Block (CEO, Sarine)
- Aimee Boulanger (Executive Director, IRMA)
- Brecken Branstrator (Editor-
in-Chief, Gemworld International, Inc.) - Suzanne Brooks (Senior Standards Manager, Responsible Jewellery Council)
- Brad Brooks-Rubin (Senior Advisor, US Department of State)
- Gaetano Cavalieri (President, CIBJO)
- Allison Charalambous (VP, Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability, Brilliant Earth)
- Olivier Demierre (President, Swiss Better Gold Association; Senior Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility, MKS PAMP)
- Luis E. Fernandez (Executive Director, CINCIA; Research Associate Professor of Biology, Wake Forest University)
- Romy Gakh–Baram (Global Marketing & Brand Director, Sarine)
- Susie Ganch (Virginia Commonwealth University; Founder/Director, Radical Jewelry Makeover)
- Shari Gittleman (Senior Director, External Relations, Newmont Mining Corporation)
- Mark Hanna (CMO, Richline Group)
- Sabrina Karib (Founder, Precious Metals Impact Forum)
- Kristina Buckley Kayel (Managing Director, Natural Diamond Council, North America)
- Susan Keane (Senior Director of Global Advocacy, Natural Resources Defense Council; Global Coordinator, Planet Gold)
- Lisa Koenigsberg (President, IAC)
- Johanna Levy (Vice President, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Programs, GIA)
- Debora Lucki and Camilla Guimãraes (co-founders + partners, Julls)
- Sakhila Mirza (Executive Board Director and General Counsel, LBMA)
- Adriano Mol (Head, Center for Gemstone and Jewelry Design, University of Minas Gerais State; Brand & Product Development, Cruzeiro Mine)
- Darrell G. Mottley (Patent attorney, Banner Witcoff)
- John Mulligan (Director and Climate Lead, World Gold Council; President, Sustainable Development Commission, World Jewellery Confederation/CIBJO)
- Mark Nelson (Education Coordinator, Rio Grande)
- Douglas Neves (CEO, Cruzeiro Mine)
- Rebecca Nolan (Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State)
- Rachel Perks (Senior Mining Specialist, Energy and Extractives Department, Global Practice, World Bank)
- Toby Pomeroy (Mercury Free Mining)
- Jean Z. Poh (CEO, CADAR)
- Kevin Reilly (Senior Vice President, PGI USA)
- John Richmond (Founder, Sluice Goose Industries; inventor of Goldrop)
- Matt Saunders (Principal, Helena Special Investments)
- Jennifer Shanker (Principal, Muse Showroom)
- Gwynne Rukenbrod Smith (Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships, American Craft Council)
- Tiffany Stevens (CEO/President, Jewelers Vigilance Committee)
- Ruby Stocklin-Weinberg (Program Manager, GemFair, De Beers)
- Kevin Telmer (Founder, Director of Innovation and Business Development, Artisanal Gold Council, Victoria, BC)
- Cristina Villegas (Director, Mines to Market, Pact)
- Sara Yood (Deputy General Counsel, Jewelers Vigilance Committee)
