Speakers

Rashid grew up in his father’s business, Ackahs Goldsmith and Gold trading company, learning the techniques of the physical metals trading. He studied Economics at the University of Bern as well as the University of Zurich, Switzerland, before gaining extensive work experience in Switzerland. Rashid worked briefly for Orell Fuessli AG, Zurich in Data Management and for Ecosens AG, Zurich in Financial Accounting.

In 2004 he returned to Ghana to revive his father’s defunct Gold trading business. In the same year Rashid founded R. D. Ackahs & Partners Ltd. and went on to secure Gold Export Licences from the Government of Ghana for the international trade. By 2005 the company was aggregating about 10kg weekly shipment from the ASM sector in Ghana to Metalor Technologies SA, Neuchatel, Switzerland. Rashid relied on the long customary and family ties within the small-scale mining community in Ghana and grew the company steadily. By 2012 R. D. Ackahs & Partners Ltd. was aggregating and shipping about 3.7 metric tons of gold from Ghana to Metalor Technologies SA annually.

Rashid has served on a committee at Ghana’s Central Bank tracking the gold export proceeds. He has also served as a consultant for one arm of Ghana’s national security dealing with the activities of Small Scale Mining. Today, R. D. Ackahs & Partners Ltd has diversified into the Ghanaian Real Estate Market serving the diplomatic community in Accra. Rashid, a former track & field athlete has served on the board of Ghana Athletics and continues to support the Ghanaian National Athletes.

Charlie represents the ninth consecutive generation of the Betts family to run The Betts Group; a 263-year-old British family business which focusses on manufacturing jewellery and investment products and refining precious metals. In reaction to increasing consumer engagement with informed and responsible product sourcing in the jewellery industry as well as the challenges faced by jewellers in reliably and cost effectively purchasing products with detailed provenance, Charlie also co-founded Single Mine Origin gold in 2017 and created AgAIN silver in 2022 (recycled from medical Xray film) with the aim of providing traceable, responsibly sourced precious metals.

Edward Bickham leads the World Gold Council’s work on artisanal and small-scale mining. His previous work for the WGC includes leading the consultation processes for the development of the Responsible Gold Mining Principles and the Conflict-Free Gold Standard.

His career in the mining sector includes a decade as Global Head of External Affairs for Anglo American plc responsible for government and stakeholder relations, social performance, corporate affairs and ethics. He was involved in the development of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and served for seven years on its Board as well as being involved in other multistakeholder processes such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the Cyanide Code (of which he is a Director).

Edward has served as Special Adviser to the UK Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary and in his business career was closely involved in the launch of satellite television in Britain. He is a past Chair of the Institute of Business Ethics and of the Programme Committee of development NGO Care International. He graduated in law from the University of Oxford.

Ms. Cooper is the Director of Responsible Investing for Orion Resource Partners. Before joining Orion in June 2022, Ms. Cooper served as an ESG Senior Principal at Geosyntec Consultants. Ms. Cooper is an environmental attorney by background with ~30 years of experience working on sustainability related considerations across a wide array of industries including mining, energy, water, manufacturing, consumer products, and government.

Education: BS in Marketing (Michigan State University), MBA (Thunderbird), JD in environmental law (University of Colorado).

Ruth was appointed Chief Executive of the LBMA in January 2014. She is responsible for the success and strategic development of the LBMA, in partnership with the Chairman and the Board. She is also responsible for maintaining accountability to and the quality of, the Association's Membership and Good Delivery Refiners as well as representing the interests of the Association in relation to regulators, investors, media and international precious metals markets.

Before being appointed Chief Executive, she spent seven years working in the Association, initially as Commercial Director and then as Deputy Chief Executive, where she acted as the main lead on Governmental Affairs. She was also responsible for the Association's work on supply chain due diligence, with particular regard to the creation and implementation of the LBMA’s Responsible Gold Guidance. She has represented the Association at industry, governmental and multi-stakeholder regulatory forums. She continues to serve as Vice Chair of the OECD Multi-Stakeholder Governance Group for Responsible Minerals. As Commercial Director, she oversaw the development of the LBMA Conference, the LBMA's quarterly publication the Alchemist and the LBMA website.

Prior to joining the LBMA, she worked in bank finance and US corporate law at the law firms of White & Case and Norton Rose, and also acted as a monitor at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. She has an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and a degree in English Literature from Kenyon College in Ohio.

Diana started her professional path at the International Committee of the Red Cross in the context of the first Russian-Chechen conflict. She then spent 14 years in Africa, Asia and Middle East by being involved in different humanitarian projects. From 2008 to 2018, as the CSR Manager at Chopard Group, she established and oversaw numerous sourcing, environmental, work-life balance and philanthropic initiatives of the group. Today, Diana leads the Swiss Better Gold Association, a pioneering network of industry, finance and service providers representing Swiss gold industry, which supports sustainable development of artisanal small-scale miners and facilitates establishment of responsible gold value chains from these operations to end market.

Belinda is a senior legal professional with more than 25 years’ experience in law, regulation, and negotiation relating to Finance across Global Commodities’ Markets and ESG. Belinda recently left Citi after 10 years’, where she was MD and General Counsel for the Global Commodities Business and advisor across departments on Environmental and Sustainable Financing and climate risk disclosures. Belinda now advises clients including NGOs, Corporates, Funds, Trading Houses and Financial Institutions on Environmental and Sustainable Financing and climate risk disclosures.

After a 10-year academic career, Dr Paul Fisher was a senior figure at the Bank of England for 26 years, retiring at the end of July 2016. He was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, the interim Financial Policy Committee and the PRA Board. During the Great Financial Crisis he worked in the Markets Area of the Bank, from March 2009 as Executive Director responsible, amongst other things, for the Bank’s programme of asset purchases for quantitative easing. In June 2014 he was appointed Deputy Head of the Prudential Regulation Authority. Previously, from 2002, he ran the Bank’s Foreign Exchange Division where he had a constructive relationship with the LBMA and developed a working knowledge of the bullion market.

Since leaving the Bank he has been working on Climate Change and Sustainability in the financial sector, including for the EC. He has also been writing on matters of financial stability, policy co-ordination and governance, competition policy, supervision and regulation. Among a range of outside positions he is a Non-Executive Director at the UK Debt Management Office; Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; Senior Research Fellow at the DAFM centre, King’s College Business School; and he is a Visiting Professor in Economics and Finance at Richmond University, the American International University in London.

Stacy is the Managing Director of Women in Mining UK, a non-profit volunteer organisation based in the UK which is dedicated to promoting the attraction, retention, and career progression of women in the global mining industry. Stacy is also a Partner within the Political and Social Advisory Services of global pure-play sustainability consultancy firm, ERM. At ERM, Stacy works across several themes covering Corporate Sustainability and Climate Change, Social Impact, Social Performance and Human Rights, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. She has extensive experience as a trusted advisor and consultant to governments, multilateral institutions, such as the UN Group, and leading international companies across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Stacy has over 14 years’ experience working in the natural resource industry leading projects focused on social impact, indigenous rights, climate change and resilience, just transition, gender transformation, sustainability and ESG strategy, and financial inclusion. Stacy also chairs the Advisory Board for the Fair Cobalt Alliance and is a Trustee of The Impact Facility—both organisations focused on bringing communities closer to the mining value chain.

Jonathan J. Jodry is the Group Business Development Director at Metalor Technologies, Switzerland, a company he joined in 2009. He has previously worked as Head of Laboratories, and then Head of New Business Development in charge of leading the creation and development of new products and services. He just returned from 2 years of Japan working at the Tanaka Kikinzoku headquarters.

Jonathan is and has always been heavily involved in precious metals trade, non-profit and standardisation associations. He chairs the ISO/TC 174, the technical committee writing all the international standards for precious metals, jewellery and gemstones. He also is the Chair of the IPMI Awards Committee and serves on the Board of the IPMI Foundation. Previously, Jonathan also served for 6 years at the Management Committee of the LPPM (London Platinum and Palladium Market), including as Physical Chairman.

Jonathan got his PhD at the University of Geneva in 2000 in organic and supramolecular chemistry, before spending a total of 10 years in Japan. He also obtained in 2016 two Executive MBAs from London Business School and Columbia University of New York.

Joanne joined IMPACT in 2011 and leads our work to improve how natural resources are managed where security and human rights are at risk. Her work has focused on contributing to responsibly-sourced, conflict-free minerals and she has helped Central African governments launch and implement a regional strategy to tackle conflict minerals. Joanne is a policy advisor, frequent guest speaker, and trainer to policymakers, private sector representatives, and civil society organizations.

Previously, Joanne was based at the University of Ottawa’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre. She focused on gender-based violence in conflict settings in Africa and how it is impacted by the extractives industry. She was also Deputy Director of the Canadian non-profit, Peacebuild, where she worked to strengthen Canadian foreign policy options and practice. She carried out anthropological fieldwork for her doctoral studies in Namibia and Angola and was a Visiting Fellow in Refugee Studies at the University of Oxford. She has lectured at Carleton University and worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, Amnesty International, and CARE International in Zambia.

Emma has 15 years of mining, sustainability & social performance experience. She joined La Mancha Resource Capital LLP (“La Mancha”), in August 2022 to oversee all ESG aspects. La Mancha advises the Luxembourg-based La Mancha Resource Fund SCSp (“the Fund”). The Fund is a special opportunities, open-ended alternative investment fund, with a long-term investment strategy focused on the precious metals and energy transition metals sectors.

La Mancha has a strong and proven track record operating in the mining sector, having played a key role in the transformation of junior mining companies into sizable, well diversified, regional and sector-significant players that have generated superior capital returns to shareholders and achieved meaningful ESG improvements.

Emma has extensive operational experience in managing ESG challenges throughout all stages of the mining life cycle, from evaluation, exploration, construction, operations to closure. Prior to joining La Mancha, Emma was the Director of Sustainability at Centerra Gold, responsible for site level social performance at their British Columbia sites. Prior to working with Centerra, Emma was working at Agnico Eagle, most recently with the Nunavut division on the community relations team.

Estelle is CEO & Founder of B CorpTM advisory firm, Levin Sources, which has helped 150+ clients mine, trade, source, invest, regulate, advocate & enable more responsibly & sustainably through 260+ projects on 150+ minerals in 80+ countries. She is chair of the Investing in African Mining Indaba's Sustainability Committee, Commissioner for the Global Investor Commission for Mining 2030, member of Women in Mining UK's Policy Committee & mentor for iWIM's International Women in Natural Resources Mentoring Programme. She is a proud Global Inspirational Woman in Mining (WIM100; 2020) and in 2024 was awarded status as a “Mining Elite in Africa 2024” by Africa Mining Review, alongside 9 other industry leaders including Mark Bristow and Neale Froneman.

Estelle is an expert in environmental & human rights due diligence, standards design & implementation, ASM & minerals policy, for transition, precious, conflict & development minerals; she has extensive experience in gold. Estelle is a certified board director & collaborative pioneer, championing other women in mining, SMEs, marginal voices, human rights & nature, speaking truth to power to build sustainable, valuable & equitable minerals systems. She is a natural matchmaker, horizon-scanner and opportunity creator given her multi-disciplinary background & creative streak.

Louis Maréchal joined the Centre for Responsible Business Conduct of the OECD in September 2014. He specifically works on projects related to the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. His current portfolio entails, amongst other things, responsible sourcing of transition / critical minerals and responsible sourcing of gold.

Prior to joining the OECD, Louis Maréchal worked for four years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France on issues related to transparency and governance in the mining sector, and security of supply of strategic metals.

He started his career with a strategic consultancy firm focusing on the defence and extractives industries.

Alan Martin is Head of Responsible Sourcing at the London Bullion Market Association.

Prior to joining LBMA in 2020, Alan spent over a decade carrying out investigative research into the intersection between natural resources, human rights and illicit financial flows. Working with organizations such as IMPACT (Ottawa), the Global Initiative Against Transnational and Organized Crime (Geneva) and the Institute of Security Studies (Pretoria), he has an intimate understanding of the challenges and vulnerabilities to responsible sourcing in artisanal mining supply chains, including their impact on leading trading, refining and jewellery manufacturing centres.

A journalist by training, Alan spent over a decade working in journalism in Canada, the UK and various countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Born and raised in Southern Africa, he holds a Master’s degree in conflict and development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

As Executive Director and General Counsel of LBMA, Sakhila leads on sustainability, notably, the responsible sourcing and ESG agenda. Her role also includes leading on market development projects and all the legal and regulatory work. As a Board Member she works closely with the Directors and the CEO on the strategic direction of LBMA, guiding on the governance and legal and compliance risks.

Following the success of LBMA’s responsible sourcing programme, Sakhila’s focus has broadened to ensure that this grows to become the leading industry standard - by establishing principal ESG requirements. She has advised the industry on how this and the wider sustainability principles impact the precious metals sector. She is a leading industry subject matter expert and has spoken at several global events.

Sakhila is continuously engaged with industry participants across the value chain, as well as civil society and media. She has strongly focused on active lobbying on a number of issues, including financial services regulations, fostering relationships with several governments and regulators. She educates stakeholders on the dynamics of the precious metals markets and LBMA’s role and work. Sakhila is also involved in setting policies, establishing market standards and leading the incident management process within the LBMA, to resolve high profiled issues.

In addition, Sakhila works on market development projects – such as leading the Gold Bar Integrity project, which focuses on how technology can help address supply chain issues. The global remit of this project and the multiple other complex projects that she has worked on, means that Sakhila is often invited to share her thoughts on new market initiatives by stakeholders.

Sakhila brings a wealth of experience having previously worked in the energy and commodities industry where she dealt with compliance, legal and regulatory matters. Sakhila read law at the London School of Economics and went onto qualify as a solicitor.

Xavier joined MKS PAMP in 2013, in the Legal & Compliance team. He then moved to a front position to become Head of Sales in 2019, covering all upstream and downstream clients. Prior to this, Xavier has worked for a law firm, then EY in a Legal & Regulatory team dedicated to banks and financial intermediaries. He holds a master’s Degree in law from Lausanne University a DAS in Commodity Trading from Geneva University and was admitted to the Geneva Bar association.

Gregory Mthembu-Salter is the director of Phuzumoya Consulting, a South Africa-based company, and is a writer, researcher, and analyst, specialising in due diligence and political economy, particularly in Africa, and often concerning natural resource governance. He is a former member of the UN Group of Experts on the DRC, and wrote the Group’s due diligence guidelines for companies sourcing minerals from conflict areas. He devised a strategy to increase the flow of responsibly mined ASM gold into the LBMA’s Good Delivery List that was adopted by the LBMA in 2022. He has spent much of 2023 working with the LBMA to implement this strategy, including researching and writing studies on seven ASM producing countries.

John is Director of Market Relations and Climate Change Lead at the World Gold Council (WGC), leading its climate change research programme and associated engagement with investors, policy makers and stakeholder organisations. Additionally, he contributes to the organisation’s wider insight and communications outputs to improve understanding of the whole gold supply chain, and the integration of ESG and sustainability considerations into strategic market and investment perspectives.

John has been responsible for the production of key research on the socio-economic impacts of the gold industry and is currently focused on exploring gold’s potential response and roles in the context of a world being reshaped by systemic social and environmental challenges, particularly climate change. He writes extensively and comments regularly on wider gold market dynamics, investment strategies, and responsible and sustainable business practices. John also engages and collaborates with a range of industry organisations and stakeholder groups, including the OECD, the ICMM (International Council on Mining and Metals), and CIBJO (World Jewellery Confederation), where he now serves as President of its Sustainable Development Commission. John joined the WGC in early 2005. Prior to that, he held a number of senior roles focused on business strategy, product development, trading systems and market analysis. He has degrees from the University of Sussex and Birkbeck College, University of London.

Philip is an independent consultant and is Vice President of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) Sustainable Development Commission. He has worked with the world’s leading jewellery companies and trade organisations in developing market-leading standards and protocols for responsibly sourced precious metals and gemstones, including recycled material. He was formerly Managing Director of the World Gold Council (WGC), an Associate Partner at Accenture and Managing Director in the Richemont Luxury Group.

Mihwa works for the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Global Secretariat at UN Women. At the Secretariat, she plays a key role in supporting companies’ WEPs journey to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in their workplace, marketplace and community. Mihwa is an economist with special interest in gender equality and diversity. Prior to joining the UN Women, she worked at the Social Sector of Inter-American Development Bank as a research fellow. She holds a Master's degree in International Economics and International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Andrew Parsons is Vice President Climate Change and Environment at Gold Fields. He joined the company in 2016. He is responsible for leading the company’s vision, policy and strategy to ensure a world-class climate change and environmental function aligned with the Group strategy and purpose. He has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and is married with 2 children. He lets his son beat him at squash a few times a week to keep them both fit.

Dr. Rachel Perks is a Senior Mining Specialist in the Energy and Extractives Global Practice of the World Bank. She covers two portfolio issues: Just Transition in Coal Regions and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM). With respect to ASM, Rachel has been working on the topic of sustainable ASM since 2005 when first working in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since that time she has been actively engaged in supporting governments and mining companies in finding solutions to ASM development across Africa, Asia and Latin/South America. She completed her PhD in 2014 examining the impacts of the Dodd Frank Act on ASM in the Great Lakes Region of central Africa. When not working, Rachel enjoys horse back riding, walking her dogs with husband and son, and sipping fine wine.

Jennifer Peyser is Senior Vice President of Responsible Sourcing at the Responsible Business Alliance and Executive Director of the Responsible Minerals Initiative. The RMI supports its 500 members in the downstream, midstream, and upstream with a suite of due diligence tools, guidance, training, and other resources for global responsible sourcing and regulatory compliance. The RMI’s Responsible Minerals Assurance Process facilitates independent, third-party assessments, provides training and technical assistance to smelters and refiners, and generates the globally consulted RMI Conformant Lists of minerals processors.

Throughout her career, Jen has designed and led proactive, global, multi-stakeholder partnerships and strategies at the intersection of human rights, sustainability, and natural resources, and across supply chains from source to product. Key past projects supporting responsible gold include the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade, the CRAFT Code (with Alliance for Responsible Mining), the artisanal gold due diligence toolkit, and the Journey of Gold virtual reality short film.

Jen has a master’s degree in environmental policy and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and undergraduate degrees in science and arts from Iowa State University. Jen serves on the Board of the Global Battery Alliance.

Akshat Rathi is an award-winning senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News. He is the author of Climate Capitalism, host of Zero, a weekly climate podcast for Bloomberg Green, and writes a weekly newsletter on climate solutions.

He has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. He has worked for Quartz and The Economist.

Michelle Richardson is the Royal Canadian Mint's Chief Impact Officer.

Ms. Richardson supports the organization's ongoing Environmental, Social and Governance work with a special focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Ms. Richardson is also responsible for Communications, Public Affairs and Government Relations at the Mint.

Prior to joining the organization in 2019, Ms. Richardson was the Editor in Chief of the Ottawa Citizen where she led culture change initiatives during periods of profound business transformation.

Marianna Smirnova, Senior Director of Responsible Sourcing and Standards at the Responsible Business Alliance’s (RBA) Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) has more than 16 years of experience in responsible sourcing, ESG due diligence, human rights and compliance issues in supply chains, including forced labour, human trafficking, conflict minerals, and raw materials traceability. Her expertise includes leading global collaborative projects, program management, policy analysis, strategic planning, standards, guidance and audit tool development, training, platform build-up, quality assurance, capacity-building, and research.

Previously Marianna managed the raw materials and extractives auditing and advisory services program at UL's Responsible Sourcing group, including assessments using Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and Conflict-Free Smelter Program (CFSP) standards. Marianna has a Master’s in International Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin. She speaks English, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese.

Dr. Soud is Head of Research and Analysis at I.R. Consilium, a family-owned consulting firm in Maryland, USA that specializes in issues of maritime security, resource security, and strategy. In that role, he has become a leading expert in the illicit exploitation of extractives, including gold. His work on gold encompasses tracking and targeting illegal mining, gold laundering, gold-based money laundering (GBML), and sanctions evasion, and has included a groundbreaking series of reports for the OECD as well as an ongoing five-year shared research grant from the United States National Science Foundation. Dr. Soud also collaborates with law enforcement and security agencies as well as diplomatic corps around the world, and partners and clients from both civil society and the private sector.

Iris has a background in law and international relations. A sustainability pioneer, leadership executive and coalition-builder, with more than 20 years of global experience working in fast-paced environments including technology, diamonds, jewellery, fashion, and government. She has worked on the ground in factories and office environments across the world including Armenia, Africa, China, India, Israel, Japan, Thailand, Sri-Lanka,. USA.

She initiated and Chaired the United Nations Global Compact Network Belgium. She was honoured by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs for her leadership role in initiating the Global Compact Network Belgium and for her work on promoting corporate social responsibility in Belgium and abroad with a focus on human rights including children’s rights and the role of business. Iris has been an Ambassador on the gender agenda for the jewellery industry, recently the WJI 2030 has launched a WEPs Campaign and working on gender procurement in partnership with UN Women. In July 2022 Iris was appointed as Executive Director & Secretary-General of the Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030, co-founded by Kering & Cartier based at Maison de la Paix in Geneva. Under her leadership WJI 2030 focuses on creating measurable impact on climate resilience , nature , inclusiveness in collaboration with strategic partners including Global Compact, UN Women and ESG book, Iris has been an active volunteer for the Special Olympics for over 20 years and she ran the NY marathon for UNICEF. She is a Board Member of DIAMONDS DO GOOD.

Alice Vanni currently holds the position of CSR Director and serves as a Member of the Board of Directors at Italpreziosi Spa. With career experiences at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and two prestigious think tanks—the Institute of International Affairs (IAI) and TWAI with the ChinaMED Project—she joined Italpreziosi Spa in 2019. Her expertise lies in sustainability and compliance within the mining sector and the precious metals supply chain.

An Independent consultant, Thierry Vircoulon has been a Research Fellow at Ifri since 2006. He coordinates Ifri's Observatory of Central and Southern Africa and collaborates with the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (South Africa). For 20 years, his work has focused on conflicts, security and governance issues in Africa. He is the author of several books on South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A graduate of the National School of Administration (Ecole Nationale d'administration - ENA) and Sorbonne University, Thierry Vircoulon has taught a Master's level course on security issues in Sub-Saharan Africa at the Institute for Political Studies (Sciences-Po). He has worked for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission on the African continent, particularly in South Africa, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Harry Wright is a lawyer, passionate conservationist and expert in nature and biodiversity policy. After a decade of working in the legal profession, Harry launched Bright Tide, which is a global sustainability firm, which provides nature and biodiversity advisory services to major corporations such as EY, Nestle and Hogan Lovells and designs and develops nature positive strategies for private sector organisations. Harry has extensive knowledge in working with hundreds of biodiversity start ups from across the run and is a global expert in ocean policy and finance. Harry is also a senior advisor at a number of international organisations, including Back2Business International, United Nations Westminster Association, Whale Seeker and Oceanovation.