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Natural Diamond Council CEO David Kellie To Step Down
Kellie, who joined the organization in 2019, will remain in his role through the end of 2025.
David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, announced Sunday via LinkedIn that he will step down at the end of the year.
New York—David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, has announced he will step down at the end of 2025.
He posted the news to his personal LinkedIn profile on Sunday.
“I remain committed to the mission of the NDC through the remainder of the year, including the onboarding of new members and the launch of a successful new campaign in Q4,” he wrote, adding that he plans to “enjoy a life of retirement” following his resignation.
Prior to joining the organization as CEO in 2019, Kellie was a marketing executive at Watches of Switzerland and Ralph Lauren.
Originally established in 2015 as the Diamond Producers Association, the organization was renamed in 2020.
It was launched to promote natural diamonds worldwide, initially funded by the world’s seven largest diamond producers, the three largest being Russian diamond miner Alrosa, De Beers Group, and Rio Tinto.
Though its annual allowance quadrupled in its first two years, the NDC’s budget was impacted by Alrosa’s withdrawal in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russian diamonds.
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He posted the news to his personal LinkedIn profile on Sunday.
“I remain committed to the mission of the NDC through the remainder of the year, including the onboarding of new members and the launch of a successful new campaign in Q4,” he wrote, adding that he plans to “enjoy a life of retirement” following his resignation.
Prior to joining the organization as CEO in 2019, Kellie was a marketing executive at Watches of Switzerland and Ralph Lauren.
Originally established in 2015 as the Diamond Producers Association, the organization was renamed in 2020.
It was launched to promote natural diamonds worldwide, initially funded by the world’s seven largest diamond producers, the three largest being Russian diamond miner Alrosa, De Beers Group, and Rio Tinto.
Though its annual allowance quadrupled in its first two years, the NDC’s budget was impacted by Alrosa’s withdrawal in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russian diamonds.
The announcement of Kellie’s exit comes weeks after a new development that secures additional funding for the organization.
The Luanda Accord, signed by a handful of African countries, as well as global diamond trading centers and organizations, states that the signatories will allocate 1 percent of their annual revenue generated from rough diamond sales to the NDC to market natural diamonds globally.
The news also comes amid widespread and polarized discussion on the NDC’s newest campaign—a set of banner advertisements using Gen Z slang to compare natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds.
The ads were posted in midtown Manhattan.
The ads were “a low-budget guerilla marketing test,” appearing only in New York, and were taken down after the negative reaction on LinkedIn, JCK reported.
Regarding Kellie's successor, the organization said, “The board of directors will take their time to consider a new person for the role vacated and will provide more information once that search is complete."
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