RJC CEO Deo out as organization restructures

London--The Responsible Jewellery Council has terminated the contract of CEO Ashish Deo, who has been with the organization for only eight months, and is transitioning to an executive director-led model.

The executive director will work alongside long-serving Chief Operating Officer Catherine Sproule to provide continuity.

Deo’s departure comes amid a time of turmoil and change for the not-for-profit organization, which is scheduled to have its annual general meeting a week from now in Mumbai. 

The RJC said Tuesday that its new management structure will include a standards director, as it attempts to rebuild that department following recent turnover, including the resignation of long-serving Director of Standards Development Fiona Solomon, who was based in Melbourne, Australia.

The RJC also lost Marieke Van Der Mijn, its certification and impacts manager, in recent months. 

New to the organization is Kinjal Shah, the RJC’s head of India who will be based in Surat and responsible for establishing the organization in the Indian market, a focus for the RJC. 

In addition, the organization recently implemented a revised Code of Practices, the standards for responsible business practices in diamonds, gold and platinum group metals against which RJC members are independently audited. The code addresses human rights, labor rights, environmental impact, mining practices and product disclosure, among other things.

The revisions, the RJC said, allow it to focus on increasing its membership both through the supply chain and by geography. 

Deo started with the RJC in September, coming to the jewelry industry from the Fairtrade Foundation, where he served as the commercial director. He replaced Michael Rae, who left the London-based organization at the end of 2013 to pursue opportunities closer to his home in Melbourne. Sproule had been acting as temporary CEO in the interim.

In a release announcing Deo’s departure, the RJC pointed out that many other non-profit organizations are run by executive directors. 

And, it is not the first jewelry industry organization to transition to this model. Just last year, the World Diamond Council, which had been headed by President Eli Izhakoff for more than a decade, announced it was hiring an executive director for the first time, and named Pat Syvrud to the post. 

The RJC is a not-for-profit standards and certification organization. Jewelry companies along all points in the supply chain have joined the organization since its founding in 2005 as the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, later simplified to RJC.