The Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA) announced yesterday that it’s awarded its 2020 Female Veteran Grant to Latoya Boyd, a first-generation jewelry designer, jeweler, and GIA graduate gemologist.

The award, which is sponsored by Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group, gifts $5,000 to a female U.S. military veteran to use toward her professional growth within the jewelry and/or watch industries, according to a statement from the organization. The grant was established “to lend support to women veterans who continue to serve their communities through their work in jewelry.”

Boyd, who has her own fine jewelry collection, Latoya Boyd Jewelry, served in the U.S. Army as a mechanic and was deployed to Afghanistan for a year. The Los Angeles native was honorably discharged in 2014 and soon after enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, where she studied jewelry and metalsmithing.

She went on to enroll at GIA, where she received a CAD certificate and also earned her graduate gemology diploma. She also earned a certificate in diamond jewelry repair from John Fish Jewelry School in Las Vegas.

With her new grant, “she plans to hire effective marketing support, such as a copywriter and photographer, as well as to pay for web hosting fees and bookkeeping software,” according to the same statement.

The WJA Foundation, WJA’s nonprofit arm, administers the Female Veteran Grant. The chair of the Female Veteran Grant committee is Isabel Cajulis, and current foundation president is Brandee Dallow.

Donations to the WJA Foundation can also be made here.

Sheri Ihde, manager of industry relations & trade shows at Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group, said in the same statement, “This grant is not only a way of giving back to the industry, but it is bestowed on a deserving female veteran who has the passion and desire to invest her talents in our industry. It’s very meaningful, and we’d like to thank Latoya for her service and wish her luck in her ongoing jewelry career.”

Top: Latoya Boyd, WJA’s 2020 Female Vet Grant winner (photo courtesy of WJA)

Emili Vesilind

JCK Senior Editor