De Beers Exec Honored for Responsible Practices

RAPAPORT... Initiatives in Art and Culture (IAC) will present FerielZerouki with its award for leadership in responsible practice in jewelry. The honor is bestowed annually on members of the jewelryindustry, or part of a jewelry-focused organization, that have made atransformational contribution to ethical sourcing and responsible practice inthe global trade, IAC said last week. Zerouki, De Beers' senior vice president of internationalrelations and ethical initiatives, will receive the accolade for her efforts inraising international awareness of sustainability through the De Beers BestPractice Principles. She has also provided working solutions to help trackresponsibly sourced diamonds in Sierra Leone. "Both personally and professionally, Feriel embodies all theattributes that we seek in an honoree, and this award is so well-deserved forall that she has done to champion and further responsible practice and ethicalsupply chains worldwide," said Lisa Koenigsberg, president and founder of IAC. Zerouki began working with De Beers as a supply-chainanalyst in 2005. She was appointed best-practice-principles manager for theminer in 2009. Together with the Diamond Development Initiative, she helpedlaunch GemFair, a pilot program that aims to create a secure and transparentroute to market for ethically sourced artisanal and small-scale mined diamonds.She currently serves as its general manager. She is also on the board of directors for the World DiamondCouncil as well as the Responsible Jewellery Council. The award will be presented at the IAC Gold Conference April4 and 5 in New York. Image: Feriel Zerouki. (IAC)