WJA Foundation Names First Winner of Hedda Schupak Scholarship
Journalist Priya Raj plans to use the scholarship funds to further her media qualifications and amplify marginalized communities.
The scholarship, funded for $25,000 over a five-year period, was created in honor of the late Hedda Schupak, a journalist who dedicated her career to covering the jewelry industry.
Schupak spent 23 years at JCK magazine, working her way up to become editor-in-chief. She later took over as editor of The Centurion newsletter before “semi-retiring” in March 2022.
The scholarship that bears her name aims to support aspiring journalists, media professionals, content creators, and communicators.
Raj, the first winner of the award, is a journalist and content strategist from the United Kingdom.
She currently is a digital content lead at Chelsea Magazines Company and has contributed to multiple fine jewelry and watch publications, including creating content for the BBC, Refinery29, and InStyle.
She has also attended numerous local and global jewelry events.
Raj told National Jeweler via email that she plans to use the scholarship funds to further her media qualifications and aims to amplify marginalized communities in the jewelry and watch industry.
“I am honored and humbled to have received the first Hedda Schupak-Baum Memorial Media and Communications Scholarship,” she said in WJA’s LinkedIn announcement of the scholarship winner last month.
“Receiving this scholarship marks not only a milestone in my career, but also the shifting sands of our industry. I look forward to undertaking the responsibility of amplifying the untold stories of the industry.”
Hedda’s husband Jim Baum said he is “thrilled” that Raj is the first recipient of the Hedda Schupak scholarship.
“Hedda, from her earliest days at JCK, was an advocate for women and how women should play a larger leadership role in the jewelry industry,” Baum said in a release from WJA.
“She understood the influence that responsible journalists could have and did her part to make sure that everyone with a stake in the jewelry business was heard. The [scholarship] helps to ensure that Hedda’s ideals will be passed on to a new generation of jewelry industry influencers.”
A small committee worked together to establish the Hedda Schupak-Baum Memorial Media and Communications Scholarship earlier this year.
It was funded by: Baum, Mitchell and Leslie Horowitz, Howard and Patti Hauben, Elias World Media, JCK, InStore, Cliq Jewelry, Jewelers of America, National Jeweler, FIT Alumni Association, Jewelers Collective, Russell Shor, Bill Boyajian, and Jewelry by Karla Kristine.
The Latest
The auction house said the gemstone could fetch up to $5.5 million at next month’s sale.
From prioritizing the customer experience to optimizing inventory, columnist Emmanuel Raheb shares the keys to a successful holiday season.
It marks the first championship win in the team’s 28-year history.
This fall, sharpen your skills in jewelry grading, quality control and diamond assessment.
The Arkansas-based jeweler’s first store in the state’s northwest region is set to open next year.
It will start with rough diamonds that are larger than 1.25 carats and later expand to rough diamonds that are above 1 carat.
The capsule collection is inspired by friendship and connection, with a nod to ‘80s fashion.
Don't miss this one-stop-shop in October, curated with buyers’ needs in mind.
The New York socialite’s elegant, transformable piece from the 1960s is headed to auction later this month.
Texas jeweler Susan Eisen and NAJA’s Gail Brett Levine discuss how lab-grown diamonds have altered the landscape for jewelry appraisers.
On the verge of retirement, Kennedy recounts the most stressful stretch of his time at JSA and reveals what he’ll miss about the industry.
Signet Jewelers CEO Gina Drosos’ secrets to success are listening to her team and leaning on data to make decisions.
Part of the Welsh singer’s extensive jewelry collection, the bathtub-shaped Cartier watch went for nearly $72,000 at Sotheby’s Paris.
He dedicated his life to researching, writing, and speaking about gemstones in the hope he could inspire others to share his passion.
The event is slated for Oct. 17-19.
12 spots are available for travelers to visit Northern Tanzania and Southern Kenya from July 25 to Aug. 4.
Though they didn’t grow up together, siblings Ronald Leitzel and Tonia Leitzel Ulsh have grown together as co-owners of Mountz Jewelers.
The men allegedly posed as employees of a local energy company to gain entry to Hussein Murray’s home and then killed him in the basement.
Sales slipped 4 percent in the third quarter in an environment the company described as economically and politically uncertain.
The U.S. presidential election, inflation, and the aftermath of recent hurricanes could all have an impact on spending.
The Italian brand is also releasing a coffee table book and opening its headquarters and workshop in Valenza, Italy.
The pair of brothers, each with his own strengths, takes a divide-and-conquer approach to bettering the stores they grew up working in.
The mining company is set to hand over the South African diamond mine to an affiliate of Stargems Group by the month’s end.
Three generations of the Kessler family have been a part of the Dallas-based company.
All 74 lots of jewelry belonging to the late Democratic senator found buyers at Bonhams Los Angeles.
The two collaborated on a necklace and a pair of earrings that praise the beauty of Zambian emeralds.
Retailers can move jewelry care lines off countertops with the fixtures, which were designed for a “sophisticated retail environment.”