Chris Blakeslee has experience at Athleta and Alo Yoga. Kendra Scott will remain on board as executive chair and chief visionary officer.
Jewelers for Children Launches 2018 Local Grants Contest
Ten grants of $5,000 each are up for grabs this year.

New York—Jewelers for Children just launched the 2018 edition of its Local Grants contest and 10 grants of $5,000 each are up for grabs.
Between now and Oct. 24, independent jewelers will be able to nominate a local organization or charity to receive one of the grants. Once a final list of nominated charities has been assembled, it will be up to each retailer to encourage people to vote for its charity through a Facebook-based campaign hosted on JFC’s page.
Retailers and their nominated charities will be able to generate interest through their own social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email blasts and any other advertising opportunities available.
JFC said it will provide sample language for use across social channels, as well as press releases that can be used to generate votes for the nominated charities.
The voting process will begin Nov. 5 and end Nov. 16. The top 10 vote-getters will be announced on Nov. 21, and grants will be made before the end of the year.
Each of 10 retailers that nominates a winning charity will present the JFC grant directly to the organization on behalf of the jewelry industry.
JFC will announce the winning charities and their nominating jewelers to the trade. The organization also will supply a press release template for each jeweler to use so they can garner press coverage.
A nomination form to print out, complete and return to JFC to nominate a charity for consideration is available on the Jewelers for Children website.
JFC was founded in 1999 by the jewelry industry to help children in need. Since then, it has donated more than $55 million to programs benefiting children whose lives have been affected by illness, abuse or neglect.
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