EditorsApr 22, 2024
The 22 Best Quotes from AGS Conclave 2024 Events & AwardsApr 25, 2024
Alexis Padis Takes Over as AGS Board President
Padis succeeds Lisa Bridge, marking the first time the organization has had two women board presidents in a row.
Ben Bridge Jeweler CEO Lisa Bridge, left, welcomes Padis Jewelry President Alexis Padis as the new president of the American Gem Society International Board of Directors at AGS Conclave 2024, held April 15-17 in Austin, Texas.
Austin, Texas—The American Gem Society welcomed a new board president at Conclave last week in what was a historic first for the 90-year-old organization.
Ben Bridge Jeweler CEO Lisa Bridge completed her second one-year term and welcomed Alexis Padis as the new board president, marking the first time in history that the presidency has passed from one woman to another.
Padis is president of Padis Jewelry, a San Francisco-based independent jeweler with five stores that she runs alongside her parents, Steve and Judy Padis. She is also an AGS Certified Gemologist Appraiser.
Bridge passed the torch to Padis at the organization’s annual Membership Breakfast, held April 17, the final day of AGS Conclave in Austin, Texas.
For the 2024-2025 term, Padis will lead a board consisting of the following.
President-Elect: Bryan Moeller
Secretary: Mitchell Clark
Senior Advisor: William Farmer Jr.
Treasurer and Chair, Finance, Audit & Legal Committee: Sumit Dangi
Chair, Young Titleholders Committee: Dave Bindra
Chair, Gemological Sciences Committee: John Carter
Chair, Membership Committee: Sarah Person
Chair, International Guilds Council: Amanda Coleman-Phelps
Chair, Education Committee: Kevin Mays
Chair, Conclave Subcommittee: Denise Richards
Director-At-Large: Sarin Bachmann
Director-At-Large: Ryan Berg
Director-At-Large: Melissa Quick
Director-At-Large: Brad Hampton
Director-At-Large: David Mazer
Director-At-Large: Niveet Nagpal
Director-At-Large: Larry Rickert
Quick, Hampton, and Bindra are new additions to the board.
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Ben Bridge Jeweler CEO Lisa Bridge completed her second one-year term and welcomed Alexis Padis as the new board president, marking the first time in history that the presidency has passed from one woman to another.
Padis is president of Padis Jewelry, a San Francisco-based independent jeweler with five stores that she runs alongside her parents, Steve and Judy Padis. She is also an AGS Certified Gemologist Appraiser.
Bridge passed the torch to Padis at the organization’s annual Membership Breakfast, held April 17, the final day of AGS Conclave in Austin, Texas.
For the 2024-2025 term, Padis will lead a board consisting of the following.
President-Elect: Bryan Moeller
Secretary: Mitchell Clark
Senior Advisor: William Farmer Jr.
Treasurer and Chair, Finance, Audit & Legal Committee: Sumit Dangi
Chair, Young Titleholders Committee: Dave Bindra
Chair, Gemological Sciences Committee: John Carter
Chair, Membership Committee: Sarah Person
Chair, International Guilds Council: Amanda Coleman-Phelps
Chair, Education Committee: Kevin Mays
Chair, Conclave Subcommittee: Denise Richards
Director-At-Large: Sarin Bachmann
Director-At-Large: Ryan Berg
Director-At-Large: Melissa Quick
Director-At-Large: Brad Hampton
Director-At-Large: David Mazer
Director-At-Large: Niveet Nagpal
Director-At-Large: Larry Rickert
Quick, Hampton, and Bindra are new additions to the board.
Also during Conclave, AGS handed out its traditional slate of awards.
Jewelers Mutual Group received the Sallie Morton Award, the award given to people or organizations for their contributions to the AGS’s national guilds.
The Guild of the Year Award went to Andy Martin, CEO of Wishfluence and president of the Northwest Arkansas Guild, while FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jeffrey Rolands received the John J. Kennedy Award, which honors law enforcement for outstanding service to and support of the jewelry industry.
Jewelers Mutual’s Krystle Craycraft, center, is pictured holding the Sallie Morton Award, surrounded by members of the Jewelers Mutual team.
At the Titleholders Luncheon, Mays of John Mays Jewelers received the Young Titleholder of the Year Award.
Valerie Madison of Valerie Madison Fine Jewelry was recognized as the recipient of the scholarship to attend Conclave presented by the Black in Jewelry Coalition and the Young Titleholders’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
The Young Titleholders also awarded scholarships to attend Conclave to seven jewelers this year.
They were: Daniel Abdallah, Maya Caroleena Jewelers; Lisa Bradshaw, John J. Bradshaw; Kimberly Ngarupe, Duke’s Jewelers; Leslie Rollins, Zachary’s Jewelers; David Rubenstein, Betz Jewelers; Torre Spellman, Skeie’s Jewelers; and Tiana Yamaguchi, Vardy’s Jewelers.
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