Submissions are now open for the 2020 JCK Industry Fund, which awards grants to individuals or organizations that have created programs with a sustainable impact on the industry. All submissions are due digitally or in writing to JCK by Nov. 22.

JCK also announced the awardees of its 2019 program: five recipients were received a total of $265,500. The 2019 grant recipients, as well as the projects being funded, are below.

Canadian Jewelers Association (CJA), in support of its Organized Crime Conference, informing law enforcement of nonviolent crimes in the jewelry and watch industries and to facilitate networking and communication among law enforcement in North America.

“The CJA is appreciative of the 2019 grant from the JCK Industry Fund that will assist us in raising the visibility and awareness of jewelry crimes to North American law enforcement,” said 2019 CJA chairman Marco Miserendino. “The grant will enable us to host a special conference for police investigators, allowing them to gain a better understanding of the unique challenges our industry faces when it comes to jewelry crime. The conference will also facilitate networking and communication among various police agencies, as crime perpetrated by roaming gangs across our shared borders presents particular hurdles for police.”

Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), for its “Diamonds Do Good” campaign, promoting positive messaging for the diamond industry, which will continue its work to connect the millennial consumer to the stories behind diamonds and their real impact.

“The JCK Industry Fund’s grant has enabled the Diamond Empowerment Fund to champion, through real stories, the positive impact natural diamonds have on communities around the world,” said DEF executive director Nancy Orem Lyman. “Last year alone we reached 25 million millennials with the industry’s ‘Diamonds Do Good’ stories. Never has there been a more important time to keep fostering this positive narrative and ensure the sustainability of natural diamonds.”

Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA), for evaluating and recommending new and innovative security technologies for jewelry forms.

“The grants received from the JCK Industry Fund have allowed JSA to pursue a wide variety of innovative products that have helped make the diamond, jewelry, and watch industries safer,” said JSA president John J. Kennedy. “JSA has been able to pursue projects such as developing a program of rewards for providing information on criminals, training FBI agents and local police on jewelry crime, developing a stolen jewelry database, and promoting local crime prevention networks of jewelers and police. Many of these startup projects have now been incorporated as an important and ongoing part of JSA’s activities.”

Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), in support of its new Designer Education and Empowerment initiative and its ongoing efforts to educate the jewelry industry on the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines and jewelry Guides.

“We at the JVC are honored and grateful that the JCK Industry Fund included us among this year’s portfolio of awardees,” said JVC CEO and president Tiffany Stevens. “With this grant, we will be able to deliver on our mission of ethics, integrity, and compliance, and spread our messaging to a wider audience than ever before. We will also be able to tackle new areas of legal ethics and regulation because of the grant, hopefully to the benefit of the entire industry. The work of the JVC helps protect the businesses of our industry and enables their thriving futures.”

Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA), supporting educational resources and professional development opportunities to increase women’s influence in the jewelry industry, as well as the continued support of its Gender Equality Project.

“With support from the JCK Industry Fund, the Women’s Jewelry Association is able to continue advancing its efforts to promote greater gender equality in the jewelry industry,” said executive director Jennifer Markas. “Our JCK Industry Fund grant supports the work of WJA’s Gender Equality Project, an initiative for empowering our members through effective tools and programs that contribute to the overall health and positive image of the industry.”

Recipients are selected based on a number of criteria that are synergistic with the goals of the fund, including improving commerce and the industry’s image in the eyes of the consumer, addressing serious problems faced within the industry, and assisting in the development of educational content that can have a profound affect on addressing concerns faced by the industry and its consumers. The JCK Industry Fund Committee, responsible for choosing the winners, consists of Yancy Weinrich, senior vice president of Reed Jewelry Group; Joel Schechter, CEO of Honora; John Green, president and CEO of Lux Bond & Green; Eddie Levian, CEO of Le Vian; and Michael Lerche, president of Goldstar Jewellery.

For more information and to make a submission, visit lasvegas.jckonline.com/jck-industry-fund-submissions.

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