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Here Are the Winners of the BIJC, JA ‘Emerging Jewelers’ Grant
Katty Villapando Lyte and Mica Rencher received a $10,000 grant for their business, Shimmer Culture LLC.
Katty Villapando Lyte, left, and Mica Rencher received the top prize in this year’s edition of the Emerging Jewelers Accelerator Program, an incubator for new jewelry businesses. Lyte and Rencher are the founders of New York-based Shimmer Culture LLC.
New York—Katty Villapando Lyte and Mica Rencher are the winners of the 2025 Emerging Jewelers Accelerator Program, the Black in Jewelry Coalition and Jewelers of America’s mentorship program for new retailers.
As this year’s winners, Lyte and Rencher, founders of New York-based Shimmer Culture LLC, received a $10,000 grant for their business.
Created by BIJC and JA in 2023, the Emerging Jewelers Accelerator Program, or EJAP, consists of a series of interactive workshops that are designed to help participants learn more about building and maintaining a successful jewelry business.
Industry leaders host the workshops, which focus on business strategy, accounting, HR/operations, legal, product development, jewelry forensics, ethical sourcing, sales, marketing, security, and insurance.
The leaders who participated in EJAP 2025 were: Nikki Carlson, Mariel Diaz, Jennifer Gandia, Cecilia Gardner, Scott Guginsky, William Jones, Jennifer Mulvihill, Emily Phillippy, Adrianne Sanogo, Jennifer Shaheen, and Susan Wheeler.
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As this year’s winners, Lyte and Rencher, founders of New York-based Shimmer Culture LLC, received a $10,000 grant for their business.
Created by BIJC and JA in 2023, the Emerging Jewelers Accelerator Program, or EJAP, consists of a series of interactive workshops that are designed to help participants learn more about building and maintaining a successful jewelry business.
Industry leaders host the workshops, which focus on business strategy, accounting, HR/operations, legal, product development, jewelry forensics, ethical sourcing, sales, marketing, security, and insurance.
The leaders who participated in EJAP 2025 were: Nikki Carlson, Mariel Diaz, Jennifer Gandia, Cecilia Gardner, Scott Guginsky, William Jones, Jennifer Mulvihill, Emily Phillippy, Adrianne Sanogo, Jennifer Shaheen, and Susan Wheeler.
In the press release announcing the winner of the program’s 2025 cycle, Lyte and Rencher called EJAP “transformative” and “invaluable” for their business.
They said, “Coming from outside the jewelry world, there was so much we didn’t know, and EJAP sessions gave us the kind of insider knowledge that would have taken multiple years to learn on our own.
“From refining our operations to better understanding customer engagement, each session gave us actionable insights that we immediately applied.”
Lyte and Rencher said in the past nine months, Shimmer Culture has seen measurable growth in engagement, customer relationships, and sales.
The four other 2025 EJAP participants who completed the program each received a grant of $5,000.
They were: Brooke Brinson of Ed & Ethel’s Fine Jewelry; Jessenia Landrum of Jevela; Brittney Moore of Britt Moore Jewelry; and Olga Shatrova of Olga Shatrova Jewelry.
“The Emerging Jewelers Accelerator Program is an important part of our Impact Initiative,” JA President and CEO David Bonaparte said.
“The 2025 cohort was outstanding. We know that they are the future for jewelry retail and we look forward to seeing their businesses shine for generations to come.
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