WJA Announces 2016 Member Grant Awards – First Charlotte Preston ‘Gets It Done’ Grant – "Awards For Excellence"

The Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA) announced that it has awarded its first Charlotte Preston “Gets It Done” grant, a special $1,000 award co-funded by WJA and its Twin Cities chapter. It also awarded 27 other grants of $500 each to recipients around the country, for a total of $14,500 in awards. Member grants are awarded to female, professional-level, WJA members in good standing, to be used toward professional growth.

Charlotte Preston, who died last October at the age of 62, was an ardent supporter of WJA. She was for many years an active member and, most recently, president of the WJA Twin Cities chapter. As a consultant to the jewelry industry via her business, Charlotte Preston Catalysts, Preston also mentored many industry professionals, embodying the goals of WJA to help members advance and develop professionally through networking, education, and leadership development. “Gets It Done” was her email address for many years and the grant honors her “can do” attitude towards her work.

The first recipient of the Charlotte Preston “Gets It Done” Grant is Amanda Bilberry, who is using her grant to take a course in jewelry appraisal skills. Bilberry earned her Graduate Gemologist (G.G.), Graduate Pearls, and Jewelry Design & Technology diplomas from the Gemological Institute of America, after earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Bilberry’s ultimate goal is to become a buyer for antique and fine jewelry. She is also working on completing her website, where she will offer custom jewelry and appraisal services. Bilberry is a board member of WJA’s San Diego chapter, and she also served as president and secretary of the GIA Student Body Council.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have won such a special grant in honor of such an extraordinary woman,” says Bilberry. “I’m sad I was never able to meet her, but I am honored to have received this gift in her name.”

2016 grant winners are listed by the WJA chapter that submitting their names:
Boston: Wendy Jo New
Chicago: Sue Crady, Kerry Gilligan, Alison Neumann, Anne van der Meulen
Colorado: Kate Swasey
Dallas: Laura Stanley
Florida: Maryann Scandiffio
Los Angeles: Tanya Parikh
NY Metro: Amy Glaswand, Gabrielle Morris, Madeleine Roslow, Karen Sampieri, Jane Schiowitz
No. California: Feurene Chew, Brenda Flanders, Sawyer Riley
Ohio/Kentucky: Kate Pleatman
Providence: Loren Barham, Lauren Paquin, Marilyn Salvatore
San Diego: Judy Colbert, Tara Hesselroth, Kathryn Timmerman-Susak
Seattle: Kelsey Kovach
Twin Cities: Jacqueline Gerhart, Diane Munsinger

Funds for WJA Member Grants, administered by the WJA Foundation, a 501(c)3 corporation, are raised by the national organization, as well as by WJA chapters around the country. All applications are reviewed by the WJA Member Grant Committee, chaired by Susan Elliott, who is also director of education resources at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). All qualified applicants are then placed into a random drawing conducted by the committee.

To raise funds for next year’s member grants and scholarships, WJA is hosting its annual Awards for Excellence gala, on Monday, July 25, 2016, at a new location: the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, 311 W 34th Street, New York, NY. In 2015, the event raised $60,000 for WJA grants and scholarships. A raffle will again be mounted in 2016 to raise additional funds for these awards, which invest in the future of the jewelry industry.