Tiffany Steven, JVC
Tiffany Stevens is the President, CEO and General Counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), a104-year-old non-profit organization serving the entire jewelry trade on all matters of legal and compliance issues. She currently serves on the Boards of the US Kimberely Process Authority, USJC, WJA Foundation and CIBJO. She began her career as an attorney at Paul Hastings LLP, later moving to in-house legal & leadership roles in both the private and public sectors. Tiffany is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and NYU School of Law and a member of the California Bar Association. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
John Bradshaw, John J. Bradshaw
John is a gemologist (GIA) and gemcutter with more than four decades of experience in the field. John was introduced to geology and gemology by a family friend as a young boy growing up in Boston. He has a background in chemistry and began his career as a research chemist. He took up faceting in 1979. A short time later, he gave up his chemists’ job to become a full time lapidary, cutting a wide variety of gems from jewelry type stones to the soft, difficult to cut collectors’ gems. John is a wholesale dealer, a member of AGTA since 1995.
He held the position of Curator of gemstones at the Harvard Mineralogical Museum for twenty years. John is an international consultant and speaker on all aspects of gemology and faceting for seminars, symposia, shows, and education.
John has authored many published articles on gemology and faceting in Gem Guide, Lapis, Rocks and Minerals, and Lapidary Journal. John also wrote a chapter on Maine gemstones in The Minerology of Maine, Volume II.
John’s consulting travels have taken him around the globe to Russia, Pakistan, Central African Republic, and many other locations. Buying trips to Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Bangkok are staples each and every year.
Sara Yood, JVC
Sara E. Yood, Esq. Deputy General Counsel at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), is an attorney admitted in the state of New York with extensive experience in legal compliance. Sara’s responsibilities at JVC include anti-money laundering compliance, FTC Guides compliance, trademark litigation, copyright, advertising monitoring and review, creating legal compliance tools and publications, and advanced legal strategy. She has developed an additional expertise in U.S. and international laws concerning the importation and exportation of animal materials used in jewelry, and has authored multiple JVC publications. Yood came to JVC from a fellowship at the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, where she received her law degree. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. Yood also serves as the Treasurer and on the board of the Women’s Jewelry Association and on the Standards Committee of the Responsible Jewellery Council.