World Diamond Council Names New Executive Director

New York—Elodie Daguzan has been named executive director of the World Diamond Council, effective Feb. 1.

She succeeds Marie-Chantal Kaninda, who resigned toward the end of 2019.

A French native, Daguzan has worked in the diamond industry for 19 years. The past eight have been spent as head of communications and industry relations at Paris-based diamond supplier Rubel & Ménasché.

At the company, Daguzan was in charge of educating clients about supply-chain developments.

She also has represented Rubel & Ménasché in the WDC since 2017, working as a member of its Kimberley Process Task Force and on the Communications, Membership and Strategic Planning committees.

Daguzan graduated from Paris-Sorbonne University in 2000 with a degree in archaeology.

She also is a certified gemologist, having studied at the National Institute of Gemology in Paris and earned a Graduate Diamonds diploma from the Gemological Institute of America in 2004.

WDC announced Daguzan’s appointment Tuesday following approval from the organization’s board of directors.

Her predecessor, Kaninda, announced in early September she was stepping down as head of the organization in order to pursue another opportunity. The WDC said Tuesday the opportunity was in her home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The World Diamond Council is the industry organization that works on behalf of the diamond industry to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the supply pipeline. Recently, the organization also has added preserving the value of natural diamonds to its mission statement.

Commenting on Daguzan’s appointment, WDC President Stephane Fischler said: “She 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 Intersessional [meetings] and Plenaries around the world. We are confident that, through the contributions in her new role, the WDC will be even further strengthened.”

Daguzan said she’s honored to join the staff of the WDC in what she described as “particularly challenging times” for both the organization and the KP, which have to ensure consumer confidence in diamonds in a time of heightened consumer interest in responsible sourcing and increased competition from man-made diamonds.