Appointments: AGTA, William Noble, more

New York--The American Gem Trade Association has announced the results of the recent election held for its board of directors. 

Bruce Bridges of Bridges Tsavorite and Jeffrey Bilgore of Jeffrey Bilgore LLC were both re-elected to the board. Charles Carmona of Guild Laboratories and Robert Van Wagoner of Beija-Flor were newly elected and will take office in February, serving three-year terms.

Continuing their positions on the board are: Ruben Bindra, president;  Gerry Manning, vice president; Gina Latendresse, Niveet Nagpal, Pramod Agrawa, Sushil Goyal, William Heher, Avi Raz, Simon Watts, and Larry Woods as directors; and Cynthia Renee as secretary. 

The board members whose terms on the AGTA board will come to an end are John Bachman of John Bachman Inc., and Bear Williams of Bear Essentials. 

Nabors joins William Noble
William Noble Rare Jewels has added JoAnne Nabors to its staff as a sales associate. She comes to the company from construction firm EMJ Corporation in Dallas, where she served as a national account executive.

Prior to that, she was the personal assistant to the Tuohy family, the subjects of the best-selling book and Oscar Award-winning film The Blind Side. She also managed the family’s foundation, called the Making It Happen Foundation. 

Exchange in Panama names first woman VP
The Panama Diamond Exchange has named Judy Meana, currently the organization’s director of communications, as vice president, making her the first woman appointed as a vice president of one of the world’s diamond exchanges, according to the PDE.

She will be responsible for the Latin American diamond bourse’s overall marketing and communications strategy and operation.

Prior to joining PDE, Meana was the Panamanian communication manager of electric company Union Fenosa. She also served as Panama’s government spokesperson for two presidential terms, as well as communications director of the Ministry of Government and Justice and the communications director of the Ministry of the Presidency. 

In recent months, PDE also has appointed two new directors--Hecliton Santini Henriques of Instituto Brasileiro de Gemas e Metais Preciosos, and Luciano Pataro of Gold America S.A., as well as a business development director.

Rhode Island organization gives back
The Providence Jewelers Club Foundation has donated $3,209 to Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, bringing its total for charitable donations to $61,800 since 1985.

Headquartered in East Providence, R.I., the PJC has more than 200 members from all over the country who come