Tech Talk: Sustainability
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The success of an industry or an enterprise depends on how sustainable it is in the longer term. We are very fortunate to have a panel of outstanding companies from different continents, to discuss their commitment to achieve sustainability of the jewellery trade. They embrace technology to minimise the negative impact caused by business operations by protecting the working environment, changing people’s livelihood, simplifying workflow, improving material traceability and reducing carbon footprints.
Additional Details
Language - English
Speaker
Charles Burgess
Founder and president of The Muzo Companies Colombia, Colombia (2020 Honouree of Industry Innovation of the Year - Customer Engagement and Sustainability Initiative of the Year)
Charles Burgess is a former US diplomat graduated from the University of Florida in History and Political Sciences, he holds a Master of Arts in Public Administration. The Muzo Companies currently covers every step of the emerald industry value chain as part of their business model “From the Mine to Market”. Burgess has been the driver of The Muzo Companies and has been the leader of the cultural and industry changes the company has led in Colombia over the past decade.
Katie Fergusson
Senior Vice President, Sustainable Impact of De Beers Group, United Kingdom (2020 Honouree of Sustainability Initiative of the Year)
Over the last few years, Fergusson has led the development of De Beers Group’s Building Forever sustainability framework and is responsible for ensuring that Building Forever remains at the heart of the business and delivers value-creation for our communities, partner countries and consumers. As part of this, Fergusson’s team leads on global sustainability engagement and partnerships, and on advancing key areas of focus, including biodiversity, livelihoods, skills and community health; as well as inclusion and diversity across our workforce, communities and brands. Prior to joining De Beers, Fergusson worked for Anglo American in South America and previously for KPMG’s Sustainability and Risk team in London.
Rocky Yu
Global Sales Director of Picup Media, Hong Kong (2020 Honouree of Young Entrepreneur of the Year (age 40 and below))
Rocky Yu creates meaningful relationships with jewellers and empowers them by turning them into efficient and effective photographers without the huge time investment and fancy equipment. Coming from an engineering background, he is able to offer an unorthodox approach to problem-solving and innovating ways to help solve the industry-wide issue of jewellery photography.
James Courage (Moderator)
Former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (Principal Judge of JNA Awards 2020)
James Courage is the former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and the former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI), where he was responsible for its global jewellery programmes including setting up the platinum jewellery development programmes in China and India. James also worked for De Beers in Hong Kong where he set up their Consumer Marketing Division’s East Asian regional office. Before that, he ran large-scale marketing programmes in the US, Canada, East Asia, South Africa and in a number of major European markets. He is now a consultant to the jewellery industry.
