Edyta Banasiak

A mineralogist and gemologist, Edyta received her Masters of Science in Geology from the Jagiellonian University in Poland. Her areas of study included hydrothermal processes and mineral systems. Edyta has been with GIA since 2013, holding the position of staff gemologist in the Colored Stones Gem Identification department, where she earned her Graduate Gemologist^® diploma. Currently a gemology instructor at the New York campus, she is happily sharing her passion and knowledge with her students. Inspired by her scientific hero, Albert Einstein, she follows the saying, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”

Sidharth Bhatia

Sidharth’s interest in gems and jewellery started when he was young. Upon graduation from high school, he began working at Galaxy USA, where he specialised in the sale of fancy coloured diamonds. While at Galaxy USA, Sidharth earned his Graduate Diamonds diploma and graduated from Baruch College with a BA in Economics. His desire to learn and help others brought him to GIA in 2015. While working as a student support representative, he completed the Graduate Colored Stones programme (earning the Graduate Gemologist^® diploma), and earned the Accredited Jewelry Professional and Graduate Pearls certificates.

Huilan Comer

Huilan received her Master of Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology. She joined GIA as a Diamond Grader and transitioned to the Quality Assurance position. And while earning her Graduate Gemologist diploma, she was promoted to Quality Specialist and Diamond Grader Specialist. Well recognized for her adeptness during her tenure, Huilan’s responsibilities later included training and coaching the graders in aligning to the grading standards in GIA’s global laboratory locations of South Africa, Israel and Mumbai. She now brings her passion for gemstones, vast knowledge and experience to the New York campus.

Jennifer Kim

Jennifer is the director of education at GIA in New York. Prior to assuming her current responsibilities, she was the school’s campus manager and an instructor for the on-campus Graduate Gemologist diploma program. In addition to her time at GIA, Jennifer holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and has many years of industry experience. She was the merchandising manager at K. Moon & Star, Inc., a luxury goods and jewelry boutique in Manhattan; a corporate trainer at Roberto Coin, a high-end designer of diamond jewelry; and the manager of the repair department at H. Stern Jewelers, Inc.

Christopher La Varco

Christopher’s gem and jewelry industry business acumen is an accumulation of his 30 years of experience. His multi-faceted and international industry experience includes executive leadership, buying and selling, supervising quality control, working with lapidaries on colored fancy diamonds, and natural and laboratory-grown gemstone trends. He has held positions including gem procurement and buyer at Temple St. Clair, gemstone and diamond dealer at Gem Essence Ltd., and Vice President at Maverick Industries, Inc., and he has leveraged his gemological expertise to actively participate in auction events and national bespoke programs. He is a lifelong learner and has a deep appreciation for mentoring others.

Wei Li

Wei has several years of professional gem and jewelry industry experience including her work as Director of Cherish Jewelry in overseeing operations, sourcing gemstones and product design. She earned her GIA Applied Jewelry Professional^™ and Graduate Pearls certificates while studying in New York to earn her Graduate Gemologist^® diploma. In addition to her GIA credentials, she is also a certified Watch Advisor by Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH). She is well-recognized for her professionalism in sales at Tourneau/Bucherer flagship boutique; and is eager to share her knowledge and passion for the jewelry and gem trade to lend to GIA’s student success.

Hope Ly

GIA Graduate Gemologist® Hope Ly has earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting & Metals at Temple University, Pennsylvania. With over 20 years of jewelry trade knowledge, Hope has worked in wholesale, buying, sourcing diamonds and colored gemstones, and marketing fine jewelry. She has worked for both private clients and auction houses. Hope brings with her a meticulous eye for design acquired at HCL Fine Jewelry, and an aptitude for compliance with established quality assurance procedures developed as Acquisition Manager at Fortuna Auction, Quality Control Manager of fine jewelry at CIRCA Inc., and Retail Boutique Manager at Me & Ro. She is eager to share her skills with students by teaching at the GIA New York campus.

Eduardo Mendoza

Eduardo has held an enduring passion for the jewelry industry, which began with tutoring youth in metalsmithing courses in San Juan. Upon earning his GIA Graduate Gemologist® and Graduate Jeweler diplomas, he continued his pursuit of jewelry and design knowledge by attending design schools in Madrid and Miami. He worked as an apprentice for various designers, including Luis Morais, and then became a product developer and production supervisor in jewelry manufacturing for Retail Store Services/JBA Ventures, where he designed custom pieces and collections. He later moved to New York City to join the GIA Laboratory as a Diamond Grader and was promoted to Training Specialist, training lab employees on procedures and coaching them to align to GIA standards. He brings his years of diverse experience and eagerness to help students succeed to his role as an Associate Instructor for the New York campus.

Cathryn Natoli

Cathryn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from St. John’s University and her Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Adelphi University. She has been working in the fine jewelry and watch industry for the past 10 years. Cathryn began her career with Tiffany & Co., supervising the artisans at the Tiffany Service Center. She assigned work for bead stringing, hand engraving, polishing, silversmithing, jewelry, watch and clock repairs. She was then promoted to Assistant Manager for Tiffany & Co.'s company-wide Valuations department, maintaining the company's lab report library and diamond certification program. While earning her GIA Graduate Gemologist diploma, she later transitioned to Valuation Manager for The RealReal, as authenticator/gemologist valuating jewelry and watches, providing in-person appointments for all of New York City, Long Island, and domestic pop-up events. Her favorite jewelry pieces are vintage brooches and stick pins.

Raphaela Tavarone

An experienced bench jeweler and gemologist, Raphaela follows a family tradition as an educator and jewelry enthusiast. She earned the GIA Graduate Gemologist diploma before serving as a production manager for several fine jewelry brands, a role that involved manufacturing bridal designs and sourcing diamonds and colored gemstones. While at Frank Darling and No.3 Shop, she also used her goldsmithing skills to translate designs into finished jewelry. As a Training Specialist at the GIA laboratory in New York, she helped diamond graders to master the meticulous grading standards set by GIA. Raphaela believes that every day offers a chance to learn something new, and she is excited to make this true for her students.

Ka Ching (Kacey) Wong

Upon earning her Merchandising Management degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Ka Ching (Kacey) developed an interest in gems while employed at the SoHo flagship store of NIWAKA, a premier Japanese bridal jewelry retailer. Because of her accomplishments there, Kacey was invited to NIWAKA's headquarters in Kyoto to become more familiar with the operations of the jewelry business. It was then that she became fascinated with the field of gemology, a passion she followed at GIA. In 2007, Kacey earned her GIA Graduate Gemologist® diploma and has since served GIA in various roles: as a Diamond Grader, Color Analyst and a Quality Assurance Specialist, where she helped monitor the performance of diamonds graded for alignment throughout GIA laboratory’s global locations. Recognized for her expertise, Kacey has traveled to multiple domestic and international GIA laboratories, most notably in Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Johannesburg. On those assignments, Kacey coached her trainees in grasping and applying GIA-defined concepts such as clarity, polish, and symmetry. In the classroom, Kacey strives to instill a strong work ethic and mentor students on the path to their success, because as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Jorge D. Fuentes

Jorge brings to GIA over 18 years of Jewelry Design and CAD/CAM experience. He is a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and spent 6 years designing engraved artwork at Frederick Goldman, where he helped develop a line for engraved jewelry products and spearheaded a rapid production department using CAD/CAM in conjunction with CNC. In 2010, he created JDF Design & Consulting, which provided custom jewelry designs based on individual customer needs, and brought the designs from sketch to finished piece. Jorge has worked with various CAD/CAM programs in the industry, such as Rhinoceros, Matrix, SolidEdge, MasterCAM, and ZBrush. He also has extensive manufacturing and production experience in both the art side of jewelry including 2D/3D Design, as well as in the various rapid prototyping and jewelry techniques used to achieve the best results for each piece. Jorge is knowledgeable in drawing, CAD, 3D-Printing, LASER technologies, as well as in a myriad of jewelry design machining and finishing techniques.

Melanie Penn

Melanie began her jewelry industry career while working as a sales representative for a boutique in New Jersey. She then earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Metals, at SUNY New Paltz while also completing an internship in production and assembly with Philip Crangi. Melanie further developed her proficiency with jewelry manufacturing and design while working as the CAD/Technical Design Manager at Timeless Designs and was responsible for development of new product lines for the in-house collection, private clients and collections for other large retail and wholesale companies. In 2013, she then joined the design team at Valentin Magro, where she held the position of Senior Technical Designer for over a decade. This experience allowed her to expand her skills with an emphasis on complex CAD designs for large multi-part jewelry pieces, servicing clientele needs, and developing her prowess with 3D printers/scanners. Melanie considers herself a lifelong learner who is passionate about continuing to further her own skills in many areas, while sharing her professionalism and knowledge with GIA students.

Maria Tsangaropoulos

Maria brings more than 20 years of jewelry design experience to the classroom. She was the director of product development for Riva Manufacturing, where she oversaw the CAD engineering team and the creation of prototypes and samples. She had similar responsibilities when she worked at Paul Winston, a manufacturer of bridal jewelry. At Robert Baum, a manufacturer of men’s jewelry, she was responsible for quality control and managing contractors. At Iris Gold, Maria was lead designer for the firm’s Italian-styled collection. Maria earned a bachelor in fine arts-jewelry /metalsmithing from California State University in Long Beach, the Jewelry Design certificate from GIA, and served a four-year apprenticeship with a Dutch goldsmith.