Martin Rapaport
Chairman and CEO, The Rapaport Group of Companies

Martin Rapaport began his career in the diamond industry in 1975 as an apprentice diamond cleaver in Antwerp Belgium. In 1978, he established the Rapaport Diamond Report, the primary source of diamond price and market information. In 1980, he created RapNet – The Rapaport Network, the first and world’s largest electronic diamond trading network. RapNet currently provides daily diamond listings of 620,000 diamonds worth over $4 billion dollars. It has 4,500 members of the diamond trade in 83 countries. Martin Rapaport is a leading diamond expert, lecturer and active public policy advocate who values open and competitive diamond markets. Rapaport Group activities include providing information, research and marketing services, as well as global diamond trading and tender services. The Rapaport Group is a primary advocate of free, fair, efficient and competitive diamond markets. Martin Rapaport played an integral part in the establishment of the Kimberley Process and the World Diamond Council. He is a strong advocate of diamonds for development, an ethical diamond trade, and the establishment of a Fair Trade Jewelry sector that will improve the lives of millions of impoverished artisanal diggers, diamond cutters and jewelry makers. Martin Rapaport has also founded the Fair Trade Diamond and Jewelry Association to help establish fair practices for artisanal miners in Africa.



Assheton L. Stewart Carter PhD
Vice President Corporate Engagement, Pact Inc.

Dr. Stewart Carter is Vice President Corporate Community Engagement and on the executive team at Pact Inc., an international development agency operating in over 40 countries. He is building a practice to link market demand with ethical production of precious metals and gems. He is a co-founder of the SMART Initiative, a social venture which aims to enable transparent routes to market for responsibly mined minerals and metals. He works with jewellers, financial institutions, retailers and mining communities; artisanal, small, medium and large scale mining companies; and government agencies to unlock the potential of mining for human and economic development. Assheton Carter has dedicated the last 17 years to enabling business to be a catalyst for social transformation. He started his career as a stock broker in the City of London, and after a spell as an academic in the business schools of the Universities of Bath and Warwick, he moved to the US to lead the extractive industries practice at Conservation International. He has launched and led several initiatives engaging the oil, gas and mining industries, resulting in significant biodiversity conservation and the setting of standards for corporate best practice. He conceived and developed the first fully traceable line of gold and diamond jewellery, Love,Earth, sold at Wal-Mart Inc., and recently worked with Cartier to source gold directly from a socially entrepreneurial “positive impact” mining operation in Honduras. He has advised a wide range of standard setting associations on environmental and social aspects of mineral extraction, including the International Council of Mining and Metals, Responsible Jewelry Council, Association of Responsible Mining, the International Finance Corporation, Inter American Development Bank, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as well as many companies in the mining and energy sectors. Carter has also teamed with senior management at Fortune 500 brand companies to lead environmental strategy formulation including Disney, Royal Caribbean, Marriot, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club and United Airlines. Carter holds a first class honours degree in international business from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, U.K., and a Ph.D. in Business Strategy and Sustainability in international mining sector from Bath University. He has written more than 25 articles and book chapters on the extractive industries and sustainable development. He sits on a number of non-profit boards and corporate advisory boards.



Noora Jamsheer
United Nations Group of Experts on Cote d'Ivoire

Noora Jamsheer is an Expert in Diamonds for the United Nations Group of Experts on Cote d'Ivoire. The Group is appointed by Security Council resolutions to monitor sanctions. Ms. Jamsheer monitors sanctions on Ivorian rough diamonds specifically. The Security Council sanctions currently state that no state should directly or indirectly import diamonds of Ivorian origin. Previously, Ms. Jamsheer was the CEO of the Dubai Diamond Exchange. After leaving DDE in 2007, she started Developing Diamonds, a non-governmental organization that aims to educate Middle Eastern consumers on issues related to the diamond trade.



Cecilia L. Gardner, Esq.
Jewelers Viligance Committee

Cecilia L. Gardner is currently the President, CEO and General Counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to compliance with laws pertaining to the jewelry industry. She also holds the position of General Counsel to the World Diamond Council, an international association whose purpose is to end the trade in conflict diamonds. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Jewelry Association and the Board of Directors of the Jewelers for Children. She also serves as General Counsel and Director of the United States Kimberley Process Authority Institute and on the President’s Council and Executive Committee of CIBJO, an international confederation of jewelry associations. A graduate of Smith College and Hofstra University School of Law, Ms. Gardner’s professional career included positions as an Examining Attorney with the Department of Investigation of the City of New York, and as a federal prosecutor at the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. As an Assistant United States Attorney, she specialized in narcotics, money laundering, organized crime and white-collar cases. Her positions included appointments as the Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Unit and as Attorney-in-Charge in the Long Island Office. Her work included numerous international investigations and prosecutions. Ms. Gardner was an Adjunct Professor at Hofstra University School of Law, where she taught International Criminal Law and Advanced Criminal Procedure.



John Hall
Rio Tinto

John Hall is General Manager of External Affairs for the Rio Tinto Group, based in London. He is responsible for key relationships with external stakeholders including government, NGOs and industry bodies, as well as corporate responsibility programmes such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Kimberley Process. John is Vice Chairman of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices and is extensively involved in the work of the Council. He is also a long-term advocate of DDI, and has supported product stewardship and sustainable development initiatives in the mining industry for many years. He believes strongly in the need for collaboration between business and civil society, seeking common ground for sustainable outcomes. John is an attorney with extensive experience in government at Federal and State levels, including six years as a portfolio Chief of Staff. He has also worked in the NGO sector in development programmes. Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.



Michael Rae
CEO, Responsible Jewellery Council

Michael Rae is the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practice's Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Michael worked for almost 17 years with WWF (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund), leading WWF's international work on mining. Michael led the WWF Mining Certification Evaluation Project and has been a member of several global mining and minerals initiatives, including the IUCN Working Group on Extractive Industry and Biodiversity and the IUCN/International Council on Mining and Metals Advisory Group and the Working Group for the GRI Mining and Metals Sector Supplement. Michael is a board member of the International Cyanide Management Institute. As CEO, Michael is responsible for the overall management and direction of the Council as well as acting as the Council's key spokesperson. Michael reports directly to the Board of the Council.



Toby Pomeroy
Alliance for Responsible Mining

Toby Pomeroy has been a U.S. jewelry designer since 1967 and has pioneered a movement toward sustainably-sourced jewelry in the North American jewelry market. A talented artisan as well as creative visionary, he has been recognized by Jewelers’ Circular Keystone Magazine as one of the 7 most influential designers in 2008. Toby has been a key leader in the socially responsible jewelry movement since 2005 when he inspired two of the largest precious metals suppliers in the U.S, Hoover & Strong and Stuller, Inc., to offer reclaimed gold and silver to their clients as an alternative to unsustainably mined metals. His leadership on environmental issues in the jewelry business has garnered coverage in publications such as TIME, Vanity Fair, Elle, Shape, and Oprah. Toby was featured in the Sundance Channel TV documentary “Eco-trip Gold” in 2009. In 2010, his design studio received a top “A” grade in an industry-wide report generated by Washington, D.C.-based Earthworks’ “No Dirty Gold” campaign.



Maya Spaull
Senior Manager, New Category Development, TransFair USA

Maya Spaull is the Senior Manager of New Category Development at TransFair USA, the only third party certifier of Fair Trade products in the US Market. She spearheads development of new Fair Trade categories and facilitates sourcing opportunities between producers in developing nations and industry. Maya is has worked at TransFair USA since 2004, where she has managed a variety of Fair Trade products. Prior to that, she worked in the jewelry industry in design, fabrication and at a semi-precious gemstone company in sourcing and sales. TransFair USA, a non-profit organization, is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. and one of 21 members of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). TransFair’s rigorous audit system, which tracks products from farm to finished product, verifies industry compliance with Fair Trade criteria. TransFair allows U.S. companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on products that meet strict FLO Fair Trade standards.









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