Elodie Daguzan (pictured) has been named the new executive director of the World Diamond Council, the overarching group that represents the diamond industry in front of the Kimberley Process certification scheme. She begins Feb. 1.

Daguzan is a 19-year veteran of the diamond industry. She most recently served as head of communications and industry relations at Rubel & Ménasché, a Paris-based diamond trading company. There, she compiled a regular newsletter educating the company’s clients about industry supply chain developments, from mine to retail.

She also represented the company at the World Diamond Council, serving as an active member of the Kimberley Process Task Force, and also served on the communications, membership, and strategic planning committees.

A French native, Daguzan has a degree in archeology from Paris-Sorbonne University, as well as a degree from the Institut National de Gemmologie in Paris. In 2004 she received a Graduate Diamonds diploma from the Gemological Institute of America

Daguzan succeeds Marie-Chantal Kaninda, who stepped down as the group’s executive director last summer for a new opportunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kaninda led the group for two years.

In a statement, Daguzan said she was honored “to be provided the opportunity of helping lead this uniquely positioned organization as it represents industry within the KP into the future. These are particularly challenging times for the KP and the WDC, as it continually strives to ensure consumer confidence in diamonds and meet the expectations of today’s customers.”

WDC president Stephane Fischler said in the same statement that Daguzan “comes to the position with an innate understanding of the diamond industry and of the critical role played by the World Diamond Council. She also has the advantage of having represented the WDC in Kimberley Process Intersessionals and Plenaries around the world.”

(Image courtesy of the World Diamond Council)

Rob Bates

JCK News Director