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RAPAPORT... Press Release: On Monday, July 29, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the JA NY show’s seminar room in the Jacob Javits Center, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, the co-founder and senior strategic advisor to The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), will discuss the importance for industry members to connect with today’s global consumer through their social outreach programs.
“These young, globally connected consumers are researching and rewarding companies who have a social purpose,” said Chavis. “It just makes good business sense to show them that when they celebrate life’s special moments with the purchase of a diamond, they are contributing to the communities where diamonds are found. Programs such as the Diamond Empowerment Fund’s Diamonds for Good membership program allows theses businesses to share in DEF’s mission of empowering the next generation of leaders in diamond-producing countries through access to higher education.”
Chavis will be joined by industry leaders Cecilia Gardner, the president, CEO, and general Counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee; David J. Bonaparte, the president and CEO of Jewelers of America; Ngomesia Mayer-Kechom, the manager for international program of the Diamond Development Initiative and Martin Rapaport, the chairman of the Rapaport Group. Special guest speaker will be Jose W. Fernandez, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Economics and Business Affairs.
DEF will also showcase its new line of Empowerment Jewelry at its booth, #2276, throughout the show. The DEF booth is located opposite the JA seminar room. Included in this new line are Donna Distefano’s “Illumination” bracelets and pendants depicting symbolic African designs in sterling silver with diamonds, Royal Asscher’s new Green tsavorite and diamond pendant, part of its Shining Stars of Africa Collection, and Benjamin Banneker’s new watches made with natural ebony and mahogany wood.
Interested JA buyers can visit either Royal Asscher's U.S. Office at 10 West 46th Street, Suite 1005 or Donna Distefano’s Atelier located at 37 West 20th Street Suite 1106 to directly order pieces from this new line.
Diamonds for Good membership forms will be available, and all new members who join at the JA show are eligible to enter DEF’s raffle to win the iconic green malachite bracelet with diamond accents.
About the Diamond Empowerment Fund
The Diamond Empowerment Fund is a New York based global non-profit organization (EIN# 20-5967103) that raises money to fund education initiatives in African diamond-producing nations. Its beneficiaries include: CIDA City Campus, South Africa’s first non-profit university to offer a four-year business degree. CIDA has an 80% employment rate among graduates; the African Leadership Academy, a university preparatory school in Johannesburg, South Africa, founded on the belief that ethical leadership is the key to sustainable development on the continent and drawing students from all 54 countries in Africa, and the Botswana Top Achievers program that provides the top high school students countrywide the opportunity to study at a university of their choice worldwide. Graduates then return to Botswana to contribute to its economic, social and political development. www.diamondempowerment.org.
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