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Our Core Team & Partners
Charles Lawson
Director, Co-Founder.
Charles Lawson, Director of Lawson Gems and Lawson Gemmology, is an experienced geologist and gemmologist based in Brisbane, Australia. Charles holds a Bachelor of Science in the Field of Geology and is anAlumni of the GIA, Gem-A and is an alumnus and former committee member of the GAA. With over 12 years in the trade he has worked in almost all facets of the industry from exploration geology, to jewellery manufacturing to gemstone trading with many years comphensive field experience throughout South and East Africa, Asia and Australia and is an experienced gem cutter. Over the last 5 years he has conducted numerous projects in Madagascar within the mining industry on behalf of bodies such as Tiffany & Co., the Gemstone and Sustainable Development Knowledge Hub and the Australian and German governments. These have focused on local empowerment and sustainability. Charles now specializes not only in the trading of gemstones but also education and filmmaking within gemmology with the aim of bringing a better understanding of the gemstone industry to the world at large. Through such work over the last 9 years he is now a specialist in the field of social media marketing within the niche of coloured gems.
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Lynda Lawson
Director, Co-Founder
Lynda is an expert on the role of women in the gemstone supply chain and she has conducted field research on this topic in Malawi, Tanzania, Madagascar, India and Thailand. She is a founding member of the Gemstone and Sustainable Development Knowledge Hub. Her PhD thesis examined Opportunities and challenges for women’s’ empowerment in the gemstone value chain in Madagascar and Thailand and was conferred by The University of Queensland in 2020. Her special interest is in Madagascar where her work has focused on remote and vulnerable populations, particularly female gemstone miners. She has designed materials and led field training for these women. Her recent work has been in analysing gender in global values chains and the potential for ecosystems and knowledge spillover in supply chains. She is committed to ensuring that these types of developments include opportunities for women and youth. Lynda is also an internationally recognised training specialist focussed on adult learning pedagogy and train the trainer approaches. She is committed to a learning approach that is gender inclusive, and facilitates maximum knowledge transfer among participants and back in their places of work. Lynda has extensive experience in Africa, having led training programs in 13 different countries.
Johann Tetevi Lawson
Partner
As a Togolese, Johann brings to the team unique insight into Africa and French speaking Africa In particular. He has a life long passion for gemstones and has been on numerous gem field trips to Madagascar and Thailand. He holds a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris and an MBA from The University of Queensland. He has recently also begun his journey into the world of gem cutting.
RAJAONARINIAINA Tahiry Camara
RGT Madagascar Manager
Tahiry is a fully certified gem merchant and expert cutter and polisher; he is based in Antananarivo but has extensive experience of the gem trade across Madagascar. His training at the Institute of Gemmology in Madagascar was funded by Handicap International. He is a highly regarded trainer in lapidary and effectively trained women miners in cutting skills in the mining area of this project. His growing entrepreneurship has brought him from a simple gem cutter to a rising star of the gem trade in the Malagasy capitol Antananarivo. We have worked with Tahiry since 2013.
DORCAS NYAMBU
RGT Kenya Manager
Dorcas is one of Kenya’s women gemstone miners. She inherited the lease on Kambanga, a valuable Tsavorite mine and her company, Shangado Africa was highly successful in mining and selling Tsavorite until it was damaged by elephant incursion in 2015.. She is a professional conservationist and an experienced Tsavorite miner from Taita/ Taveta County, Kenya. She is studied at the University of Nairobi, studying Bachelors of Science in Wildlife Management and holds a Diploma in Wildlife Management and Conservation from Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute.
She participated in various community based organizations’ like Voluntary Service Organization ( VSO), and Development conscious Youths in sensitizing the community on environmental conservation, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and child abuse initiatives.
Key Partners
ROAM
Ladies Lapidary Collective
Gemstone Source
In 2019 the woman’s gemstone cooperative, ROAM, was created in Sakaraha in the heart of Madagascar’s sapphire country. It is made up of 15 women drawn from the surrounding mining towns and villages and the women are mostly sapphire miners or from sapphire mining families. Many have stories of domestic and family violence and some have been child brides as is the custom in parts of rural Madagascar. ROAM is based in the women’s lapidary centre, Femmes lapidaire de Sakaraha, which was created with funds from the Australian and the German Government. The women have received training in basic gemmology and cutting and polishing gemstones, some jewellery making techniques, IT skills gem photography and Provenance Proof. The name ROAM signifies “those who have autonomy and independence”. It has the status of an official association in the Malagasy context but needs considerable support both from the international gemstone community and Malagasy institutions to move from being an association to a fully functioning enterprise.
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Gübelin Gem Lab
Blockchain Technology Provider
Amidst the mounting push from consumers towards more transparency the Gübelin Gem Lab has successfully launched its Provenance Proof initiative, developing new technologies to increase transparency and traceability within the gemstone industry. Provenance Proof Blockchain is the first comprehensive and fully functional blockchain dedicated for coloured gemstones. This platform, built and operated with our partner Everledger, provides a digital, decentralised ledger, based on blockchain technology that tracks gemstones from mine to end-consumer, free of charge. Here you can sign up for the blockchain or log in, if you already have an account.
Key Partners
ROAM
Ladies Lapidary Collective
Gemstone Source
In 2019 the woman’s gemstone cooperative, ROAM, was created in Sakaraha in the heart of Madagascar’s sapphire country. It is made up of 15 women drawn from the surrounding mining towns and villages and the women are mostly sapphire miners or from sapphire mining families. Many have stories of domestic and family violence and some have been child brides as is the custom in parts of rural Madagascar. ROAM is based in the women’s lapidary centre, Femmes lapidaire de Sakaraha, which was created with funds from the Australian and the German Government. The women have received training in basic gemmology and cutting and polishing gemstones, some jewellery making techniques, IT skills gem photography and Provenance Proof. The name ROAM signifies “those who have autonomy and independence”. It has the status of an official association in the Malagasy context but needs considerable support both from the international gemstone community and Malagasy institutions to move from being an association to a fully functioning enterprise.
Gübelin Gem Lab
Blockchain Technology Provider
Amidst the mounting push from consumers towards more transparency the Gübelin Gem Lab has successfully launched its Provenance Proof initiative, developing new technologies to increase transparency and traceability within the gemstone industry. Provenance Proof Blockchain is the first comprehensive and fully functional blockchain dedicated for coloured gemstones. This platform, built and operated with our partner Everledger, provides a digital, decentralised ledger, based on blockchain technology that tracks gemstones from mine to end-consumer, free of charge. Here you can sign up for the blockchain or log in, if you already have an account.