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Resilience

IAC’s 16th Annual Gold + Diamond Conference
July 13 (evening) – 15, 2026

The Cosmopolitan Club
122 East 66th Street
New York, NY

For 16 years, IAC’s Gold + Diamond Conference has been informed by two primary concerns: how to define and achieve responsible practice on the one hand, and how to preserve and celebrate artisanry and artistic vision on the other. While our perspective on these concerns is ever-broadening, our goal is unchanged: to initiate dialogue and inspire change without fear.

In this era of systemic upheaval, resilience is critical. Global economic uncertainty, increasing scarcity of resources, intensified climate impacts, transformative technological change, and substantial political instability mandate that resilience be ingrained if companies, whole industries, and even geographic regions are to thrive. Resilience is particularly critical to the precious metals and jewelry sector.

What does resilience require? Invariably, investment—in capacity, in human resources, in networks, in client development and in the communities that provide the raw material and labor that undergird everything. Investment, however, is expensive, and even more difficult in strained economic times. Therefore, it is critical that investment be strategic if it is to be effective.

We focused on a number of critical questions: What does resilience mean at this moment? How do industry actors stay afloat while investing in resilience? From refineries to heritage houses, from individual makers to miners, what are the strategic options available, and what actions and forward thinking are necessary to build resilience for an unpredictable future?

The preeminent global gathering of professionals in precious metals, gemstones, and jewelry, IAC’s Gold + Diamond Conference has, since 2011, brought together key players from industry, government, NGOs, academia, museums, and the collecting community, as well as jewelers, goldsmiths, and designers to discuss issues of critical importance, to seek common purpose regarding responsible practice, and to celebrate the highest standards in jewelry craft and design. Each year, key players from throughout the sector attend what journalist Kyle Roderick described in Forbes as “the gold, diamond and jewelry industry’s analogue to the World Economic Forum’s Davos summit.”

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CIBJO is IAC’s Conference Partner for Resilience.

We express sincere gratitude to our sponsors (as of July 13, 2026):

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Program agenda

Monday, July 13, 2026

5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Opening reception

Heritage Auctions
445 Park Ave, New York, NY (between 56th and 57th Streets)

Welcoming remarks
Heritage Auctions

“Mission Moment: Turquoise Mountain”
Percy Stubbs (Chief Development Officer, Turquoise Mountain).

During the opening reception, there will be an opportunity to view work by participating jewelers, designers, and artisans.

Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Formal sessions took place at The Cosmopolitan Club, 122 East 66th Street, New York.

8:45 – 9:15 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast
9:15 – 9:35 a.m. Opening Remarks
Lisa Koenigsberg (Founder / President, Initiatives in Art and Culture)
9:35 – 9:55 a.m. CIBJO: The Industry and the World
Gaetano Cavalieri (President, CIBJO [The World Jewellery Confederation])
10:00 – 10:55 a.m. How Do We Define ”Human Rights”?

  • Shari Gittleman (Lead, Global Coalition for Action on Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining)
  • Mora Johnson (Head of Secretariat for the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights)
  • Jane Nelson (Founding Director, Corporate Responsibility Initiative, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; senior research fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard University);
  • Moderator: Edward Bickham (Senior Advisor on ASGM Issues, World Gold Council).
11:00 – 11:55 a.m. CIBJO – IAC Session: AI and Intellectual Property

  • David Berdugo (CEO, Caratwise)
  • Jeremy Shepherd (CEO & Founder, Pearl Paradise; President, Pearl Association of America)
  • Margaret Welsh (Partner, Baker Botts LLP and co-chair of the firm’s Artificial Intelligence team)
  • Sara Yood (CEO & General Counsel, Jewelers Vigilance Committee)
  • Moderator: Lisa Koenigsberg
12:00 – 12:55 p.m. Resilience in the Diamond Landscape

  • Mark Klein (Vice President, Julius Klein Diamonds)
  • Emmy Kondo (Strategy Consultant, Natural Diamond Initiative, De Beers Group)
  • Raj Mehta (CEO & Managing Director, Spectrum, B.V.)
  • Daniel Rose (Vice President, Diamond Sourcing, Jared)
  • Jade Trau (New York-based, fifth-generation diamantaire and fine jewelry designer)
1:00 – 2:10 p.m. Luncheon (on your own)
2:15 – 3:15 p.m. ASGM In the Amazon Basin

  • Erich Adam Moreira Lima, Head of Geology Forensic Service, Brazilian Federal Police
  • Irene Mia, Senior Fellow for Latin America & Conflict, Security and Development, The International Institute for Strategic Studies
  • Juan José Herrera, Business Sustainability Director, Lundin Gold
  • Roger Tissot, Executive Director, Artisanal Gold Council
  • Moderator: Edward Bickham, Senior Advisor, World Gold Council
3:20 – 4:20 p.m. ASGM In West Africa and the Sahel Sahara

  •  Juan José Herrera (Business Sustainability Director, Lundin Gold)
  • Erich Adam Moreira Lima (Head of Geology Forensic Service, Brazilian Federal Police)
  • Irene Mia (Senior Fellow for Latin America & Conflict, Security and Development, The International Institute for Strategic Studies)
  • Roger Tissot (Executive Director, Artisanal Gold Council)
  • Moderator: Edward Bickham
4:20 – 4:40 p.m. Break
4:40 – 5:35 p.m. Pearls: A Closer Look at a “Queen of Gems/Gem of Queens”

  • Laurent Cartier (Head of Special Initiatives, Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF; lecturer in gemology, University of Lausanne & ELSTE; co-founder, Sustainable Pearls Project)
  • Pam Cloud (Co-founder, Roseate Jewelry; former Chief Merchandising Officer, Tiffany & Co.)
  • Melanie Georgacopoulos (jewelry designer specializing in creating unique pearl and mother of pearl jewelry);
  • Moderator: Jeremy Shepherd
5:40 – 7:30 p.m. Awards Presentation and Reception Celebrating CIBJO’s 100th Anniversary

Presentation of IAC’s ninth Award for Leadership in Responsible Practice in Jewelry to Arien Gessner (President, Rio Grande), in recognition of transformational contribution to ethical sourcing and responsible practices in the worldwide gem and jewelry industry.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Formal sessions took place at The Cosmopolitan Club, 122 East 66th Street, New York, NY.

8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast  
9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Opening remarks
Lisa Koenigsberg
9:15 – 10:10 a.m. Beyond Compliance: Climate Risk, Impacts and Strategy for the US Jewelry Industry

  • Peter Boyd (Resident Fellow, Yale Center for Business and the Environment; Founder & CEO, Time4Good)
  • Mark Hanna (Former CMO, Richline)
  • Sage Lenier (Co-founder, Futureline, a next-generation environmental think tank)
  • Lisa Sachs (Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment [CCSI], Columbia Climate School; Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Faculty of Climate, Columbia University
  • Moderator: John Mulligan (Head of Sustainability Strategy, World Gold Council; President, Sustainable Development Commission, CIBJO)
10:15 – 11:10 a.m. The Future of Gold- and Silversmithing and the Making of Jewelry: Preserving Skills as Strategy for Longevity

  • Linus Drogs (President & Board Chair, Au Enterprises)
  • Mary Lewis (Head of Craft Sustainability, Heritage Crafts)
  • Karin Paynter (Writer, researcher and craft advocate)
  • Percy Stubbs
  • Emili Vesilind (Senior Editor & Trends Expert, Jewelers Mutual Group)
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Goldsmiths Company Fair & IAC
British Mastery: Textile Techniques in Goldsmithing

  • Megan Brown (Jeweler)
  • Andrew Lamb (Jeweler and lecturer, Glasgow School of Art)
  • Moderator: Lisa Koenigsberg.
12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Luncheon at the Cosmopolitan Club
1:30 – 1:50 p.m. The Criticality of the Past to the Future:
Five Luxury Houses. Five Lessons. One Future
Frederic de Narp (Chairman and Co-Founder, Luximpact)
1:55 – 2:50 p.m. The Traditional and Perhaps Forgotten: Techniques Providing an Edge to Contemporary Jewelry

  • Alice Cicolini (Jewelry designer)
  • Emily Satloff (Founder, designer, and curator, Larkspur & Hawk)
  • Moderator: Lisa Koenigsberg
2:55 – 3:50 p.m. Circularity: The Circular Economy and Recycled Precious Materials

  • Rebecca Boyajian (Director, Market Development, GIA)
  • Michael McTeigue (President, McTeigue NY 1895)
  • John Mulligan
  • Frederic de Narp
  • Kat Weymouth (Director, Diamond and Jewelry Services, SCS)
3:55 – 4:50 p.m. Who Bears the “Cost” of Responsible Gold Sourcing? Refineries as a Pressure Point, and the Economics and Challenges of Responsible Gold Sourcing

  • Charlie Betts (Managing Director, Betts Metals & Co-founder, SMO)
  • Dani Hoover (Customer Experience and Marketing Manager, Hoover & Strong)
  • Steven Lerche (President, Goldstar)
  • Elena Masella (Head of Compliance, Valcambi)
  • Kat Weymouth
  • Sara Yood
  • Moderator: John Mulligan
4:50 – 5:15 p.m. Closing remarks
Lisa Koenigsberg
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