It will be held in Chicago.
The Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference will take place Oct. 13-14 at Columbia College in downtown Chicago. This conference will provide education and tools for jewelers, suppliers, educators, students and consumers. The conference will teach participants how to be more active in ensuring that the jewelry they make, sell and buy meets higher standards for social and ecological well-being throughout the world.
The speaker lineup includes Toby Pomeroy, who brought ethical gold to the forefront through his close work with Hoover and Strong; Stewart Grice, Hoover and Strong’s vice president of mill and refining and one of the world’s top material science experts; Christina Miller, co-founder of Ethical Metalsmiths; Monica Stephenson, owner of ANZA Gems and writer/publisher of the jewelry industry blog iDazzle; Eric Braunwart, owner of Columbia Gem House and pioneer in sourcing ethical colored gemstones; Elizabeth Orlando with the US Department of State; Patricia Syvrud of Jòia Consulting; Cristina M. Villegas of Pact World, Mines to Market; and Orin Mazzoni, producer of the mine-to-market documentary Sharing the Rough. The event will be MC’d and moderated by Andrea Hill, owner of Hill Management Group.
In addition to two days of information-rich sessions, the conference will host a screening of Mazzoni’s documentary Sharing the Rough. The screening will be open to all conference attendees and members of the public.
Sharing the values and practices of producing and selling responsible jewelry is something we must embrace as a community. The Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference seeks to do just that. In collaboration with Ethical Metalsmiths, sponsored by MJSA (with additional sponsorships to be announced), and with support from many industry leaders, this conference will reach beyond industry conversations. It will work to create active practices and gain solid commitments to a healthier, more world-conscious jewelry paradigm.
The conference will be held in Columbia College’s Film Row Cinema, located in the historic 1104 S. Wabash building in downtown Chicago.
Ethical Metalsmiths will be hosting an online auction to raise additional funds for the conference.