Biographical details on our key personnel are incorporated
below. If you are a member of the media and would like to
contact one of the individuals listed, please make contact
with a media point person listed on the media contacts page.
- Gregory C. Wilkins, Chairman
- James E. Burton, Chief Executive Officer
- Philip Olden, Managing Director, Jewellery,
and Chief Marketing Officer
- John Calnon, Managing Director, USA
- Albert L. H. Cheng, Managing Director,
Far East
- Moaz Barakat, Managing Director, Middle
East and Turkey
- George Milling-Stanley, Director,
Official Sector
- Natalie Dempster, Investment Research Manager
- Jill Leyland is Economic Adviser
to the World Gold Council
- Dr Richard Holliday, Head, Industrial Sector, World Gold Council, London
Gregory C. Wilkins, Chairman
Gregory Wilkins was elected Chairman of World Gold Council in March
2008. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick Gold
Corporation. He assumed the position in February 2003 and has been a
member of the Board of Directors since 1991.
Mr. Wilkins first joined Barrick in 1981, prior to its entry into the
gold business, and eventually rose to the position of Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer.
During those early years, he worked closely with Chairman and Founder
Peter Munk and other senior members of the team to build Barrick into a
leader in the gold industry.
In 1993, Mr. Wilkins left Barrick to become President and Chief
Operating Officer of Horsham Corporation, which was then Barrick's
controlling shareholder. Horsham later became TrizecHahn Corporation and
Mr. Wilkins remained as President and Chief Operating Officer until the
planning of its conversion to a United States Real Estate Investment
Trust had been completed and the company relocated to the United States.
Mr. Wilkins is a member of the Cabinet for The Heart for University
Health Network Campaign. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a
Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University in Montreal.
James E. Burton, Chief Executive
Officer
James E Burton joined the World Gold Council (WGC) as Chief
Executive Officer in 2002. His appointment marked an important
step in the ongoing development of the WGC as a commercially
driven marketing organisation for the gold industry.
At the World Gold Council, James Burton has implemented a
strategy to focus on revitalising the organisation, bringing
renewed focus on its mission as the marketing organisation
for the gold industry. As well as restructuring the senior
management team, he has significantly reduced staff overheads,
diverting a higher percentage of funding into priority programmes
with effective results.
Under James Burton's leadership, the WGC is demonstrably
building demand for gold jewellery, establishing a network
of distribution partners, a range of products to influence
gold off-take and helping to remove existing barriers to investing
in gold. In addition, the WGC has launched a number of gold-backed,
exchange-traded funds, including Gold Bullion Securities on
the London Stock Exchange in December 2003, and StreetTracks
Gold Shares on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2004.
James Burton is the former CEO of the California Public Employees
Retirement System (Calpers), a position he held from 1994
through to September 2002. As the leading, and largest, public
pension system in the USA, Calpers has $140 billion in assets
and 1.2 million participants. During James Burton's time,
the pension system pioneered a more activist approach to institutional
investing, emphasising corporate governance issues and insisting
on management and board accountability to shareholders. Prior
to working for Calpers, he was Deputy State Controller for
the State of California.
Philip
Olden, Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer
Philip has over 25 years' international experience in the
marketing and general management of premium branded goods
and retail organisations. He has managed leading consumer
brands in international markets, directed retail operations
with over 300 retail stores in 15 countries, and has been
based in London, Paris, Switzerland, Africa, Singapore and
Japan. Philip has held CEO and board directorships at several
companies, and was also a business consultant, specialising
in business transformation in retail and consumer goods sectors.
He holds a first class degree with special merit from the
University of Sheffield, U.K.
He joined World Gold Council in 2002, with overall responsibility
for marketing at the WGC and specific responsibility for the
jewellery sector. Philip has played a leading role in revitalising
demand for gold in all sectors and particularly jewellery,
which has risen to record levels and accounts for the majority
of global demand. He has helped transform the WGC into the
commercially focused marketing organisation that it is today.
John Calnon, Managing Director,
USA
Prior to first joining the World Gold Council in early 1991,
John Calnon had been Vice President of Merchandise and Operations
for the 70-store optical chain, American Vision Center. His
jewelry experience started at the Zale Corporation in the
mid-80's where he was Executive Vice President of the organization's
Diamond Park division. John's early career was spent with
the Walt Disney Co. where he rose thru the ranks to become
Dir. of Corporate Merchandising based in Burbank. He is a
graduate of University of Florida.
In 2001, John rejoined the WGC after five years at QVC, where,
as Vice President, Jewelry, he orchestrated that organization's
dramatic jewelry sales growth helping it become one of the
largest jewelry retailers in the US.
"During my years at QVC, I gained insights into the importance
of branding, new product development, consumer education,
and how to romance the jewelry products we sell," says Calnon.
"This learning has been instrumental in continuing to grow
today's record level of demand for gold jewelry in the United
States and has provided support my efforts to elevate awareness
and demand for gold jewelry in the U.S. market."
John Calnon is currently Managing Director, U.S. for the
World Gold Council, based in New York City.
Albert L. H. Cheng, Managing
Director, Far East
Albert Cheng joined the World Gold Council, Singapore regional
office in March 1993 as a Regional Manager, Planning and Business
Development, Far East, becoming Managing Director, Far East
in 2003 with responsibility for operations in the entire region.
Prior to his many years in gold marketing, he was with Dentsu,
Young and Rubicam, Hong Kong in the early 80's, where he was
responsible for a number of popular and durable consumer products.
He was Account Director when he left.
His career in gold marketing began in July, 1985 when he
joined the Royal Canadian Mint as a Manager for South East
Asia. His responsibilities include market development, regional
sales and promotional support activities for the Mint's numismatic
and Maple Leaf family of bullion products. In April 1990,
he was promoted to Regional Manager, Asia Pacific with added
responsibility in Japan and Korea as well. In 1991, Mr. Cheng
had taken up additional responsibility as to help the International
Olympic Committee, Centennial Coin Programme to build up the
distribution network in Asia Pacific and to market and promote
these coins throughout the region.
A graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Mr. Cheng
holds a degree in Business Administration with a major in
Marketing; he is also member of the CAM in U.K. He is married
with two children.
Moaz Barakat, Managing
Director, Middle East and Turkey
Moaz Barakat is a graduate of the American University of
Beirut where he obtained his Bachelor degree in 1984 and his
Masters degree in 1986 in Business Administration.
After receiving his Masters degree, Moaz Barakat joined Gulf
Eternit Industries in 1986 as the Finance and Administration
Coordinator. In 1988 Moaz Barakat joined Price Waterhouse
as Senior Manager, Audit & Business Advisory Services.
In 1995 Moaz Barakat joined the World Gold Council as Regional
Finance, Administration & Planning Manager for the Middle
East & India Sub-Continent, a position he held till he
was appointed to his current position in 1999 as the Managing
Director of the WGC for the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan.
Moaz Barakat is a US Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and
received a Personal Acknowledgment letter from the President
of California State Board of Accountancy.
He is a member of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Advisory
Board in addition to Gold & Jewellery Group Board.
Moaz Barakat is also a member of several professional bodies
such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants,
Oregon Society of Certified Public Accounts, Virginia Society
of Certified Public Accounts, Association of MBA Executives,
American University of Beirut Alumni Association and American
Management Association.
He is also a visiting faculty instructor to American University
of Dubai, Buffalo State University, Becker CPA Review Course,
Becker CMA Review Course and Becker CIA Review Course.
George Milling-Stanley,
Director, Official Sector
George Milling-Stanley is based in the Council's New York
office. In 2002 he became a member of the team that developed
Street Tracks Gold Shares, the gold ETF that was launched
on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2004.
Before joining the Council in 1996, Mr. Milling-Stanley worked
for six years on the precious metals trading desk of Lehman
Brothers, the New York investment bank. His responsibilities
included the development of customer business and the firm's
research and analysis of the metals markets.
Previously he worked for Consolidated Gold Fields in London,
which was at that time the second largest gold mining group
in the world. As Chief Precious Metals Analyst, he provided
gold market intelligence for the whole group. His duties included
researching and writing the company's authoritative annual
survey of the world gold industry.
Mr. Milling-Stanley's early career was spent as a journalist,
including 10 years with the Financial Times in London, where
he wrote about the international mining industry.
An acknowledged authority on all aspects of the gold business,
Mr. Milling-Stanley is a regular speaker at international
conferences.
Natalie Dempster, Investment Research Manager
Natalie is part of a team responsible for augmenting gold’s investor base. She writes regular research papers on the gold market, including a quarterly update on gold investment trends (Gold Investment Digest). Natalie believes gold’s investment characteristics, especially its role as a portfolio diversifier, make it an invaluable investment. To that end, she regularly presents the case for gold to pension funds and their advisors, high net worth individuals and family offices. Natalie has 10 years experience as an economist, having worked at both the Royal Bank of Scotland and Chase Manhattan Bank, and is well versed with the world’s financial markets. She also worked as a foreign-exchange trader at Chase Manhattan Bank. Natalie holds a BSc in Economics from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London and an MBA from City University Business School (CASS), London.
Jill Leyland, Economic
Adviser to the World Gold Council
Jill Leyland is a consultant with over 30 years' experience
as an economist and statistician. She is Economic Adviser
to the World Gold Council with whom she has been associated
since 1997. In addition she has worked, as an adviser or staff
member, for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), the UK National Statistics Office, the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the UK Department of Trade
and Industry, the Financial Times and the Commodity Research
Unit (CRU), as well as a number of smaller organisations.
She is the author of a number of published reports on international
economic trends and issues and has supervised the publication
of, or contributed to, several research studies for the World
Gold Council. Currently she is the principal author of the
WGC's Gold Demand Trends.
Jill is a member of the Council of the Society of Business
Economists and was appointed a Fellow of the Society at the
beginning of this year. She is also a member of the UK Statistics
User Forum and the National Statistics Working Party of the
Royal Statistical Society; in 2006 she was invited to give
evidence on the UK statistical system to the House of Commons
Treasury Select Committee.
Dr Richard Holliday, Head, Industrial Sector, World Gold Council, London
Richard Holliday joined the World Gold Council in 2001 in the position of Industrial Applications Manager, responsible for developing and promoting the increased use of gold in industrial markets. He now leads the Council’s Industrial Sector, with overall responsibility for technical strategy and knowledge transfer activities, including the Council's programme of research, aimed at uncovering new industrial uses for gold. Richard is a regular speaker at international conferences relating to the industrial uses of precious metals and has an extensive network of international contacts working in science and technology. Richard believes that in the coming years, an exciting array of new industrial and medical uses for gold will emerge from world’s research laboratories, based on gold’s unique technical properties.
Prior to joining the World Gold Council, Richard Holliday was Principal Engineer at Land Rover Design and Engineering, responsible for advanced materials and manufacturing technologies in new vehicle development projects. He has a degree and a doctorate in materials engineering from the University of Wales, is a Chartered Engineer and Scientist and a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, where he recently served on Council.
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