Materiality and Stakeholder Engagement

About Materiality

In the world of Sustainability, materiality is about what matters most to an organization. By prioritizing material topics, an organization can use its time and resources to focus on the topics that matter most to it and its stakeholders, and maximize its impact.

Our Approach

Our Mission is to cultivate a more transparent, sustainable, compassionate, and inclusive jewelry industry.

We have integrated this Mission throughout our business. It is core to everything we do and extends to all our operations, including how we approach materiality and we engage with stakeholders across our supply chain. Everyone at Brilliant Earth plays a role in advancing our Mission.

OUR MISSION INFORMS OUR MATERIAL TOPICS

Transparency

Transparency in ethical business practices and governance, along with sourcing environmentally and socially responsible materials, are key to driving change in our industry.

  • Anti-corruption, business ethics, and anti-money laundering
  • Human Rights at the origin of raw materials and across our operations (including protections against forced labor, child labor and indigenous rights)
  • Supplier Social and Environmental Assessments at manufacturing facilities
  • Economic Performance

Sustainability

Our products are designed to be loved for generations, and we seek to further reduce our environmental footprint by keeping our jewelry circular and by embedding environmental sustainability throughout our operations and supply chain.

  • Raw materials sourcing and efficiency
  • Energy use in our owned operations and manufacturing facilities
  • Emissions from our owned operations and purchased goods and services
  • Waste and reuse/recycling from our owned operations

Compassion

We seek to create lasting impact, not just in our own supply chain and customer communities, but also across artisanal small-scale mining communities where gemstones and precious metals are sourced.

  • Local communities and community engagement

Inclusion

In our community, you are included, cared for, valued, and supported. We want you to be your authentic self, and we’ve built diversity, equity, and inclusion into our recruiting, hiring, and training.

  • Employment, talent acquisition and employee retention
  • Occupational Health and Safety
  • Training and Education
  • Diversity and Equal Opportunity
  • Non-Discrimination
  • Marketing and Labeling
  • Customer Privacy (cybersecurity and data privacy)

Our Journey

Our journey to understand what materiality means to us and our stakeholders, and to uncover risks, opportunities, and commitments, unfolded by:

  1. Launching a Mission-driven company committed to transforming an outdated industry.
  2. Conducting an independent assessment across our supply chain aligned with OECD due diligence standards to uncover risks, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
  3. Establishing strong policies, processes, and systems to operationalize our efforts, such as traceability systems for our Beyond Conflict Free™ diamonds and recycled gold and silver.
  4. Monitoring and analyzing our management systems, and updating them when the supply chain changes, such as delisting Russian origin diamonds.
  5. Establishing programs—including specialized trainings, education, and reviews—for our employees, and supply chain partners, such as trainings in anti-money laundering, our Mission, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
  6. Working with regulators and monitors, such as the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, to ensure compliance and give input on various industry laws or sanctions.
  7. Participating in and advocating for change across the supply chain, including with industry associations, initiatives, and standards such as the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and their Downstream Assessment Program (DAP), Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) and their Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA), and the Responsible Jewellery Council’s Code of Practices.
  8. Tying a portion of executive bonuses to our ESG Goals, and regularly reporting on those Goals to our Board of Directors and stakeholders.
  9. Collaborating with grant partners such as Pact, Pure Earth, and Alliance for Responsible Mining, who address social and environmental issues at the mine level, so we know what’s happening at the beginning of the supply chain.
  10. Aligning to leading sustainability/ESG standards and frameworks, such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to better track and report on our performance.