Advisory Board
Bruce Bridges
Bruce Bridges is a skilled coloured gemstone expert with extensive background in East African coloured gemstone prospecting, mining, grading, sorting and cutting, with an emphasis on Tsavorite and Tanzanite. Bruce has completed a lifetime of extensive field work in the Taita/Taveta region of Kenya. He holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Marketing and Finance (Dual Degree) from the University of Arizona. He is president and CEO of Bridges Tsavorite and Managing Director of Bridges Exploration Ltd. (Kenya). Bruce is a vice-president of AGTA, a member of the Kenya Chamber of Mines and an executive director of ICA.
Anne-Marie Fleury
Anne-Marie Fleury, director of 'Standards and Impacts', leads the standards development and assurance and impacts programmes at the Responsible Jewellery Council across the whole jewellery supply chain. Anne-Marie has 17 years’ experience working on environmental, social and corporate governance in the mining sector. She spent nearly 10 years with the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) working to define sustainability principles, reporting and assurance systems and implementation tools for the industry. Stakeholder engagement has been a key part of her work and her experience ranges from direct community consultation to strategic approaches to stakeholder engagement and the development of working partnerships between industry, governments, NGOs, UN groups and the financial sector.
Tyler Gillard
Tyler Gillard is Head of Sector Projects and Legal Adviser in the Responsible Business Conduct Unit of the OECD’s Investment Division. He manages the OECD’s work on due diligence in the financial, textiles, mining & metals, oil & gas and agriculture sectors. Before joining the OECD, Tyler was a fellow in international law at Columbia Law School, where he worked with the Human Rights Institute and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment on responsible business conduct, international investment law and transparency in the extractive industry. Tyler has also worked with Human Rights Watch and for a number of years on local development and public - private dialogue throughout India.
Alan Hart
Alan Hart is Chief Executive Officer of the oldest established Gemmological Education Association in the world (Gem-A,1908), providing overall leadership of the association and developing and continuing the provision of the world-class Gemmological education. Alan is also a Scientific Associate of the Natural History Museum, London following 33 years’ experience as Principle Curator and Head of Earth Science Collections including chair of the Museums overall collections strategic team. As a mineralogist and qualified gemmologist, he has a passion for Earth Sciences education and collections development and established global links within the research, trade and dealer environments. Alan is highly networked within the Earth Sciences, Gemmological research community and Associated Gemmological and Jewellery industries and Editor in Chief of Gem-A’s Journal of Gemology. He is passionate in linking and combining expertise to educate, benefit and inspire future generations in Gemmology and its related fields.
Douglas K. Hucker
As Chief Executive Officer of the American Gem Trade Association, Mr. Hucker represents the premier Association of United States and Canadian colored gemstone and cultured pearl professionals. Mr. Hucker represents the AGTA in numerous national and international industry groups. In addition to his efforts to promote appreciation and enthusiasm for colored gemstones, Mr. Hucker oversees the Association’s unflagging commitment to ethics, professionalism and consumer protection. Mr. Hucker spent eight years at GIA, first as an instructor of diamond grading and gemstone identification, and then as Manager of the Institute's Extension Division, where he was responsible for gemology classes taught to jewelers in major cities throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Mr. Hucker specialized in importing fine gemstones into the United States. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Gem Trade Association, the American Gem Society, was Director of Marketing for Krementz Gemstones, one of the oldest jewelry manufacturing firms in the United States, and was President and partner of The Registry Ltd., a firm specializing in antique and estate jewelry. He is a Graduate Gemologist of the GIA, a Certified Gemologist Appraiser of the American Gem Society, and a member of the American Society of Jewelry Historians.
Vivien Johnston
Vivien Johnston is a consultant for The Dragonfly Initiative and Gem-A’s Ethics Manager. A Glasgow School of Art graduate and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she supports the development of new standards of best practice and specialises in responsible supply chain strategy for gems and jewellery. Her achievements include holding the position of Head of Design for a UK commercial jewellery, before founding ethical jewellery brand Fifi Bijoux in 2006. Fifi Bijoux was founded to pioneer a sustainable business model promoting positive ethics in mining and jewellery. Vivien was the Chairman of the Jewellery Ethics Committee from 2007-2015. She was awarded Future 50 Young Social Entrepreneur 2013 and was selected as a finalist for both Cosmopolitan magazine ‘Woman of the Year’ and Red Magazine ‘Red Hot Woman of the Year. Vivien’s special interests are in small scale mining, women and children in mining communities and with a strategic focus on balancing sustainability with economic opportunity and development.
Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki
Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki, director of the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF since 2009, started his gemmological career at SSEF after completion of his PhD thesis in mineralogy in 1996. Apart from working at the SSEF -one of the world's leading gemmological laboratories-, he is lecturing as Assistant Professor at the Earth Sciences Department of the University Basel (Switzerland) and is supervising gemmology-related research projects in collaboration with Swiss universities and international research laboratories. As an internationally renowned expert he is a regular speaker at gemmological conferences worldwide and has published numerous articles in all major journals on gems, pearls, and new analytical testing methods.
Jean Claude Michelou
Jean Claude Michelou, is a gems and jewelry resource strategists. He has been active in gemstone trading, mining, cutting and export since 1977 as well as rough colored gemstones sourcing strategist from different origins. He has served 8 years as Vice president of his 16 years on the Board of Director of the International Colored Gemstone Association, ICA. More recently he has been active as a consultant for the USAID, the World Bank, Government agencies and Mining companies and has worked in different countries on the development of infrastructures and policies from mine to market for the gemstone industry. He has been working on the development of Fair and Ethical Trade and Mining Standards and Social responsibilities initiatives for Artisanal and Small Scale mining communities. He is an Advising Director to the ICA Board and is also the Chairman of the Ambassadors and Communication committees as well as the Editor-in-Chief of colored Gemstone Intenational Publication, in Color magazine. Jc Michelou is a Senior Technical Advisor for the UNICRI (UN) on the Gems and Jewelry Supply chain for the project “Illicit Trafficking of Precious Metals and Traceability and Ethical Origins of Colored Gemstones”. He is also an active contributor to the OECD forums on precious metal and gemstones.
Dr. Raquel Alonso-Perez
Dr. Raquel Alonso-Perez Curator of the Mineralogical and Geological Museum, Harvard University (MGMH). Raquel received her B.S. in geology from the University of Granada, Spain, and her Ph.D. in Earth and Material Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, and graduated as gemologist by the Gemological Association of Great Britain (GEM-A). Her teaching strengths are mineralogy and gemology and her main research interests are evolved from understanding Earth forming processes to the origin of gem deposits by using a dual approach of non-destructive analytical techniques. As Curator of the MGMH Raquel is responsible for access to, teaching, research, public education, and continued development of the Earth Science Collections. Raquel is on the advisory board of the Association for the Study of Jewelry and related Arts, the Women Jewelry Association- Boston Chapter and Associate Editor of the Gemological Association of Great Britain (GEM-A).
Dr. Andy Shen
Dr. Shen is a Hubei Provincial Distinguished Professor in the Gemmological Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) since 2013. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gems and Gemmology, published by China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) in Chinese and English. He was a Research Scientist at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for ten years, an Associated Research Scientist at California Institute of Technology and a University Lecturer at Cambridge University, UK. He obtained his Ph.D. from Cornell University in mineral physics and did his postdoctoral work at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut at Bayreuth, Germany. Currently, his research is focusing on applying physical and chemical principles in understanding various physical properties of gemstones and minerals. Current projects include optical properties of diamond, spinel and beryl; color origin of gem-quality diaspore and various gemstones; nano-inclusions in sapphires and other gem materials, etc. He also consults some Chinese gems and jewelry companies and runs various collaborative projects with them.
Dr. James Shigley
Dr. James Shigley is a distinguished research fellow at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California. Prior to joining GIA in 1982, he studied geology as an undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley, and later received his doctorate in geology from Stanford University. He helps direct GIA’s research activities on the identification of gemstones, and has ongoing research interests in the natural environments of gem mineral formation as well as the characterization of gem materials. Dr. Shigley is the author of more than 180 published articles on diamonds and other gemstones in various journals, and has been a well-known speaker on gemological topics to both professional and general audiences on nearly 250 occasions.
Dharmendra Tank
Dharmendra Tank is the owner of Heeralal Chhagganlal Tank, an Indian company well known as a major supplier of emeralds and a large variety of other coloured gemstones. The company has seen five phases of entrepreneurship under five generations of Tanks since the early 20th century. Dharmendra was on the Board of Directors and Working Executive Committee of the GJEPC (Gem and Jeweller Export Promotion Council of India) for 6 years, and is presently in the Core Committee of the Coloured Gemstones Panel of GJEPC. He also served on the Board of Directors of ICA (International Coloured Stone Association) for 8 years, out of which 2 were as Treasurer. Furthermore, Dharmendra is also on the Valuation Panel of Indian Customs of the Government of India for Coloured Gemstones. He believes in modernisation and adopting latest techniques to maintain high-quality standards in gemstone manufacturing and trading, but has never lost appreciation and respect for the human skill that has nurtured this industry.
Cristina Maria Villegas
Cristina Maria Villegas is a recognized global expert in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). She specializes in rural development, mineral sector governance, and local capacity building, and has direct field experience across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Working with Pact, she manages multi-million dollar field programs focused on improving ASM’s technical, social, environmental performance and market linkages. She is an invited expert with Fairtrade Gold, the UN Environmental Program, and the Artisanal Gold Council. A social scientist, Ms. Villegas has degrees from UC San Diego and the London School of Economics. She lectures at the Columbia University’s massive open online course (MOOC) focused on extractives.