Pritesh Patel, the lab’s chief operating officer, will take over as president and CEO of GIA.
De Beers Group on How It Will Achieve Gender Parity by 2030
The diamond miner and marketer has extended its partnership with UN Women for an additional five years.

The company first partnered with UN Women in 2017, with the goal of increasing female representation in its workforce. Its first milestone was to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions.
By 2020, the female appointment rate increased from 22 percent to 40 percent, with the number of women in senior leadership positions overall rising from 17 percent to 30 percent.
Now, De Beers said it is focusing on achieving gender parity across its entire workforce. (The company uses the International Women’s Forum definition of gender parity, which is anywhere from 40 to 60 percent.)
It’s a member of the newly formed HeForShe Alliance, which brings together global leaders from government, corporations and civil society to develop and share solutions to gender equality’s biggest challenges.
Within the alliance, De Beers is focused specifically on addressing barriers to entry in the workforce for women, and creating a more diverse STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) talent pool, where women have been underrepresented historically.
De Beers Group CEO and UN Women HeForShe Champion Bruce Cleaver said in a press release: “Achieving gender parity across our workforce is a business-critical priority for De Beers Group—not only is it the right thing to do, it’s the only way we will access the full talent pool and achieve our full potential.
“Now more than ever we have a societal imperative to keep working toward gender equality, as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges and we must work hard for sustainable change.”
Senior Vice President, Sustainable Impact, Katie Fergusson, added: “We’ve made really meaningful progress on increasing the representation of women in leadership roles in our business during the past three years, but now we want to accelerate this momentum with a particular focus on technical roles, where women remain underrepresented globally.”
There’s more to De Beers commitment to UN Women.
In 2017 UN Women and De Beers launched Accelerating Women-Owned Micro-Enterprises (AWOME) in southern Africa. Now, De Beers will invest an additional $3 million.
The program has provided business training and mentorship to more than 1,000 female entrepreneurs in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and qualified 50 local trainers so the program can continue.
By 2030, De Beers wants to increase the reach of the program to support 10,000 female micro-entrepreneurs.
Cleaver said, “Our commitments announced today to continue our journey toward gender parity in our workforce and to invest an additional $3 million to continue supporting women entrepreneurs in our host countries in southern Africa are further demonstration of our resolve to be a positive force for progress, and for change.
“We look forward to continuing to work with UN Women and our fellow HeForShe Alliance peers to share learnings, scale impact and accelerate progress over the next five years.”
Additionally, since it began its UN Women partnership, De Beers has granted more than 50 scholarships to young women from underprivileged communities in Canada to pursue STEM education.
De Beers also funded summer science camp for 30 high school girls, and partnered with WomEng in southern Africa to engage more than 900 girls and young women in workshops and mentorship programs.
The company’s new goal is to engage 10,000 girls with STEM by 2030.
The diamond miner and jeweler’s UN Women partnership is part of its internal sustainability program, dubbed Building Forever.
The Latest

National Jeweler and Jewelers of America discuss the standout jewelry trends and biggest news to emerge from the shows this year.

The winning designs captured the “Radiance” theme.

The Seymour & Evelyn Holtzman Bench Scholarship from Jewelers of America returns for a second year.

Nominations in the categories of Jewelry Design, Media Excellence, and Retail Innovation will be accepted through July 30.


The singer’s ring ticks off many bridal trends, with a thick band, half-bezel setting, and solitaire diamond.

The bracelet references vintage high jewelry and snake symbolism as a playful piece where a python’s head becomes a working belt buckle.

The countdown is on for the JCK Las Vegas Show and JA is pulling out all the stops.

The heist happened in Lebec, California, in 2022 when a Brinks truck was transporting goods from one show in California to another.

The 10-carat fancy purple-pink diamond with potential links to Marie Antoinette headlined the white-glove jewelry auction this week.

The Starboard Cruises SVP discusses who is shopping for jewelry on ships, how much they’re spending, and why brands should get on board.

The historic signet ring exceeded its estimate at Noonans Mayfair’s jewelry auction this week.

To mark the milestone, the brand is introducing new non-bridal fine jewelry designs for the first time in two decades.

Founder and longtime CEO Ben Smithee will stay with the agency, transitioning into the role of founding partner and strategic advisor.

Associate Editor Natalie Francisco shares 20 of her favorite pieces from the jewelry collections that debuted at Couture.

If you want to attract good salespeople and generate a stream of “sleeping money” for your jewelry store, then you are going to have to pay.

The top lot was a colorless Graff diamond, followed by a Burmese ruby necklace by Marcus & Co.

Gizzi, who has been in the industry since 2001, is now Jewelers of America’s senior vice president of corporate affairs.

Luca de Meo, a 30-year veteran of the auto industry, will succeed longtime CEO François-Henri Pinault.

Following visits to Vegas and New York, Botswana’s minerals minister sat down with Michelle Graff to discuss the state of the diamond market.

The “Your Love Has the Perfect Ring” campaign showcases the strength of love and need for inclusivity and representation, the jeweler said.

The former De Beers executive is the jewelry house’s new director of high jewelry for the Americas.

The New York Liberty forward is the first athlete to represent the Brooklyn-based jewelry brand.

Take a bite out of the 14-karat yellow gold “Fruits of Love Pear” earrings featuring peridots, diamond stems, and tsavorite leaves.

The one-day virtual event will feature speakers from De Beers, GIA, and Gemworld International.

The California-based creative talks jewelry photography in the modern era and tackles FAQs about working with a pro for the first time.

Al Capone’s pocket watch also found a buyer, though it went for less than half of what it did at auction four years ago.