Gem Legacy, the Ferndale, Mich.–based nonprofit organization that runs programs to support East African mining communities, has announced three appointments to its board of directors.
The industry executives joining Gem Legacy’s board are Annie Doresca, chief financial and operating officer at Jewelers of America (JA); Sara Yood, president, CEO, and general counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC); and Mark Smelzer, vice president of business development for Jewelers Mutual.
“Each of them brings something Gem Legacy needs,” said board president Monica Stephenson, citing “Annie’s financial and nonprofit leadership, Sara’s expertise in compliance and supply chain integrity, and Mark’s unparalleled reach across the jewelry trade.
“Together, they strengthen our foundation at exactly the moment we need it most, and I know the mining communities we serve will feel the difference,” Stephenson, the founder of Anza Gems, said in a statement.
“Gem Legacy is at a stage where the strength of our board directly shapes our capacity to serve mining communities well,” said Bernadette Mack, the group’s executive director. “The addition of Annie, Sara, and Mark will make us a more effectively and visible organization.”
A nonprofit specialist, Doresca supervises finance, operations, and strategic planning for two prominent trade associations: JA and the Diamond Council of America, where she became president and CEO earlier this year.
She also was the founding president of the Black in Jewelry Coalition. Gem Legacy said Doresca’s long commitment to equity and inclusion resonates with the organization’s mission to expand opportunity at the source of the supply chain.
“Joining the Gem Legacy board lets me bring my passion for education and workforce development to communities at the very source of our industry. I’m proud to support work that builds real opportunity and independence in East African mining regions,” Doresca said in a statement.
Yood said, “I’m incredibly excited to join the board of Gem Legacy, an organization I’ve admired for some time. Having recently traveled to Tanzania and visited artisanal mine sites, Gem Legacy’s impact potential is more visible than ever. I look forward to working with a board filled with people passionate about the jewelry industry and its intimate tie to source countries.”
At JVC—the industry’s ethical watchdog since 1917—Yood deals with such issues as anti–money laundering, FTC compliance, intellectual property, and trade regulation. She also serves as secretary of the United States Kimberley Process Authority and as president of the ethics committee of CIBJO.
Gem Legacy said Yood’s work parallels the organization’s efforts to ensure that miners—the start of the supply chain—are supported, protected, and treated with dignity.
Smelzer joined Jewelers Mutual in 2021 after nearly two decades as publisher of JCK and JCKonline. Gem Legacy noted that his experience shaping how the industry tells its stories and connects its communities, along with his skills in content strategy and driving industry partnerships, will help the group translate mission into message and expand its reach among jewelers and retailers whose businesses depend on the miners Gem Legacy serves.
“I am honored and delighted to join the board of directors of Gem Legacy,” said Smelzer. “I have admired the contributions they have made for the East African artisanal gem-mining communities. I look forward to working with the current board members as well as my fellow new members.”
Top: Rough tsavorite garnets from an East African artisanal mine visited on a Gem Legacy Adventures trip (photo courtesy of Gem Legacy)
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