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Industry News: JA Offers Workers Comp Insurance Benefit; D.E.F. Botswana Scholarship; More September 26, 2018 (0 comments)
Diamond Empowerment Fund Awards $130,000 to Botswana Top Achievers Program
New York, NY—The Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F) donated $130,000 to the Botswana Top Achievers Program, during a dinner reception with His Excellency President Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi of Botswana. The presentation was made on the eve of the opening of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly.
The Top Achiever program recognizes students across Botswana and provides them with the ability to study in premier universities around the world. Students then come back to Botswana and contribute towards its economic diversification. D.E.F. has contributed to the Botswana Top Achievers program since 2011.
In his remarks thanking the D.E.F., President Masisi recognized that through D.E.F.’s Diamonds Do Good initiative, the Botswana diamond story is reflected in a hugely positive way, emphasizing how ethically sourced diamonds have made and continue to make enormous contributions to Botswana’s economy, an example of good governance and industry best practices.
“Everyone from Botswana attending this reception tonight in some way benefits from diamonds. We thank the Diamond Empowerment Fund for investing in the future of our next generation of leaders,” President Masisi said. Added D.E.F President, Anna Martin, “We are thrilled that through our supporters in the diamond industry, we are able to give back to Botswana which is one of the top producers of diamonds in the world. Diamonds truly do good.”
Jewelers of America Announces Workers Comp Benefit For Members; Names GEM Nominees
New York, NY – Jewelers of America (JA) has partnered with JM Insurance Services LLC (a wholly-owned subsidiary agency of Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group) to offer competitive workers compensation insurance rates exclusively for JA members.
The new benefit will allow JA members to protect their business and employees when illness or accidents strike. If an employee gets hurt, becomes sick, or dies due to their job, workers compensation insurance provides coverage that includes medical care costs, rehabilitation treatments, lost wages, and death benefits.
JMIS Workers Compensation coverage is underwritten by AmTrust North America, a national insurance carrier with an “A-” (Excellent) FSC “XV” rating by A.M. Best. The company provides a broad suite of insurance products including workers’ compensation coverage for small- and medium-sized businesses.
JA members can request a quote for workers compensation coverage here.
Separately, JA announced the 2019 GEM Award nominees in the categories of jewelry design, media excellence, and retail excellence. The three winners will be announced live during the 17th annual GEM Awards, Friday, January 11, 2019 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. The GEM Awards honor individuals and brands whose work raises the visibility and status of fine jewelry and watches. The 2019 nominees are:
- Jewelry Design: Silvia Furmanovich, Fernando Jorge, and Valérie Messika
- Media Excellence: Brecken Branstrator, National Jeweler; Will Kahn, Town & Country; and Michael Thompson, International Watch.
- Retail Excellence: Broken English, Los Angeles and Newport Beach, CA and New York, NY; Cellini Jewelers, New York, NY; and Threads, an online boutique found at threadsstyling.com.
The 2018 GEM Awards will also honor Rolex’s Stewart Wicht with the prestigious GEM Award for Lifetime Achievement. For more information, visit www.jewelers.org/gemawards.
De Beers Group, UN Women To Support More Than 1,200 Female Entrepreneurs In Southern Africa
London, UK—De Beers Group, in partnership with United Nations (UN) Women, is pleased to announce the launch of a three-year capacity-building program to improve the livelihoods of more than 1,200 women micro-entrepreneurs in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
The program is designed to equip women micro-entrepreneurs with business and management skills to build their capacity to operate and grow successful small businesses. It will focus on providing training about business concepts such as accessing markets, increasing market share, generating income, creating jobs, and supporting effective decision-making, communication and negotiation skills.
Tailored specifically for each country, the program will be delivered with local implementation partners and focus on regions that have high levels of unemployment and where formal job opportunities are limited. It has been designed to ensure ongoing sustainability by building the capacity of locally-based trainers to understand the specific challenges faced by women micro-entrepreneurs, build access to peer support networks, and support participants on an ongoing basis to implement the skills gained. A wide variety of micro-businesses—spanning retail, hospitality, agriculture, catering, produce, manufacturing, and education—will be eligible to participate,
De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said, “I am delighted to launch this program as part of De Beers Group’s commitment to stand with women and girls around the world, especially in our diamond producing countries where women play a crucial role in supporting their local communities. When you support women business owners, you support a community more broadly as women are proven to reinvest more of their income back into the community and to actively support the creation of jobs for others. Through these programs, we hope to help equip women entrepreneurs with the skills, training and confidence to build successful and sustainable businesses.”
Anne Shongwe, UN Women Representative, South Africa Multi-Country Office, said, “The partnership and program aims to complement national efforts on job creation and economic empowerment of women by supporting women micro-entrepreneurs through capacity building that is customized to address their daily challenges in practical ways. Typically, micro-enterprises are informal and survivalist, and women manage them as part of their households. While some may have basic technical skills like weaving or baking, most lack the business skills to understand their business environment and run sustainable enterprises. Investing in women’s economic empowerment, particularly with women in the informal sector, sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Investing in the capacity development of women micro-entrepreneurs leads to those women having higher incomes, better access to and control over resources, and greater security as they gain financial independence.”
The program is part of De Beers Group’s three-year partnership with UN Women, which includes a US $3 million investment to advance women and girls in De Beers Group’s diamond producing countries, announced in September last year.
Separately, De Beers Group also is providing scholarships to young women and girls in Canada to pursue studies in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). To date, eight university scholarships have been awarded, with the aim of a further 19 multi-year scholarships by 2020. De Beers Group also sponsored a summer science camp at the University of Waterloo for 13- and 14-year-old girls from indigenous communities near the company’s Gahcho Kué mine.
As a UN Women HeForShe Thematic Champion, De Beers Group has also committed to achieving parity in the appointment of women and men into senior leadership roles in its own organization, as well as ensuring the company’s brands are a positive force for gender equality through all its marketing campaigns. In the past 12 months, the company doubled its appointment rate of women into senior positions, to 51% of new senior hires. A set of new inclusive marketing guidelines has also been developed, and highly successful campaigns have been run by consumer brands Forevermark and De Beers Jewellers, featuring real women.
Visit www.debeersgroup.com/standingwithwomen for more information.