Home Good News Gem Legacy Expands its Advisory Council to Include Jewelers Mutual and AGS Execs
Good News

Gem Legacy Expands its Advisory Council to Include Jewelers Mutual and AGS Execs

Gem Legacy tool kit
Gem Legacy tool kit

Gem Legacy, the nonprofit organization that raises funds and secures resources for East African miners and their families, has added three industry members to its advisory council: Katherine Bodoh, CEO of the American Gem Society (AGS) and AGS Laboratories; Stuart Robertson, research director of Gemworld International; and Sumit Dangi, global CFO and treasurer of Jewelers Mutual Group.

 

Council members serve as ambassadors for Gem Legacy and advocate for its initiatives, “enrolling new partners and collaborating with industry organizations and businesses to form alliances with Gem Legacy,” said the organization in a recent statement. The advisory council’s founding members are Niveet Nagpal, president of Omi Gems and Omi Privé, and Jonathan and Brecken Farnsworth, owners of Parlé Jewelry Designs.

 

New member Sumit Dangi of Jewelers Mutual Group (which owns The Zing Report) grew up in a family-owned gemstone business. “I’m from a colored stone family, and as a kid I would sit around and play with gems,” recalls the CFO, who was introduced to the nonprofit at AGS Conclave last year. “They had a small booth and I learned what they do and got really excited about their mission. Gem Legacy’s efforts can be broken down into three things: education, entrepreneurship and community development, with a specific focus on kids. All of these are very near and dear to my heart.”

 

Sumit Dangi
Sumit Dangi, global CFO and treasurer of Jewelers Mutual Group
Katherine Bodoh
Katherine Bodoh, CEO of AGS
Stuart Robertson
Stuart Robertson, research director of Gemworld International

 

Dangi is also impressed with the organization’s scrappiness and can-do attitude. Gem Legacy has been on the ground in East Africa for several years now, fundraising to buy artisanal miners crucial tools and equipment, subsidize education and gem cutting education, and even rallying to help deliver basic needs (toilet paper, food, etc.) to communities during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Unlike bigger nonprofits, Gem Legacy has low operating costs, so “everything that’s being donated to Gem Legacy goes directly to its initiatives,” Dangi adds. “From a donor perspective, you always ask, where is my money being used? When you see it’s going directly to the programs, you feel more interested, connected and excited.”

 

Ultimately, adds the executive, “It’s not what you receive in life, it’s what you give back that defines you. This is my small attempt at giving back to a community that I absolutely love.”

 

All photos courtesy of Gem Legacy

 

Follow the Zing Report on Instagram and Facebook

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Related Articles

GIA-lab-grown-diamond
GemstonesGood News

GIA Confirms New 34.59 Ct. Diamond is Largest Known CVD Lab-Grown

The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) announced today that its laboratory in...

Good News

Artist Rachel Feinstein’s Commissioned Ring for The Jewish Museum is Epic

Quite a monumental ring, isn’t it? The Jewish Museum commissioned artist Rachel...

Good News

Here’s Why the Women’s Jewelry Association Will Have Its Own Jewelry Booth at JCK Las Vegas

The Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA) will be hosting its own jewelry booth...

Good News

Kwiat’s New Charitable Bracelet Aims to Provide Clean Water in Tanzania

A new charitable collaboration between Kwiat and clean water nonprofit charity: water...

%d bloggers like this: