Maker Spotlight: Emma Jane Designs

Jewelry from Emma Jane Designs is simple, elegant, and reasonably priced. Emma Jane Hunt, owner and creative director, has made a commitment to keep every piece under $100, but most are less than $50. In a world of over-sharing, over-buying, and overall “too much” -- we love the simplicity and clean lines of this handmade brand.

Emma Jane Hunt graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Sciences in 2010. Upon graduation, Emma went on to become just the second Auburn graduate to be employed with the United Nations World Food Programme at its headquarters in Rome, Italy. When Emma and her husband moved back to Auburn, she was instrumental in launching the Hunger Solutions Institute on campus and served as its Communications and Outreach Coordinator. After starting a family, Emma left the "working world." She has three beautiful children, currently all under the age of four. While being a stay-at-home mom, Emma decided to grow the side business she started when she was 16 and turn it into a profitable business. Recently, Emma had the opportunity to combine both of her passions - making a difference in the world and jewelry design - into one.

This summer Emma and the owner of Chirpwood, Scott Moody, partnered together to create a women’s co-op in Rwanda. Emma and Scott saw the need for sustainable product development and wanted to make an impact in the developing world. Because of this partnership, Chirpwood employed Rwandan 30 women for the pilot program of EJD Mercantile. Their goal is to use some of the proceeds to start and fund a training center to grow the EJD Mercantile line and continue to provide long-term employment for Rwandan women.

All the Emma Jane Designs pieces are beautiful, but the EJD Mercantile line has a beautiful purpose as well. The partnership is empowering women in a country that offers far less privileges to women than developed countries like the United States. This collection features simple, minimalist jewelry made by their team of artisans in Rwanda. It offers a range of unique styles including short necklaces, long necklaces, stacked bracelets, and more.

“This is the greater purpose of Emma Jane Designs. To have it finally happening is really cool.”
- Emma Jane Hunt, owner and creative director

EJD Mercantile will be available November 1 of this year. It will be sold by campus reps across Auburn University, in-store at Emma Jane Designs, as well as online at www.shopejd.com. The store is located at 337 East Magnolia Avenue Auburn, AL 36830.

Scott Moody, a 1984 Auburn electrical engineering graduate, retired after 25 years of teaching high school math and physics and opened Chirpwood. At Chirpwood's Opelika location, Scott manufactures and sells custom picture frames and maintains an art gallery and coffee space. Half of Chirpwood’s profits go to an organization called Bridge2Rwanda. Scott volunteers more than a month each year with B2R in Rwanda, teaching and helping create opportunities for Rwanda’s best and brightest to study abroad. Scott was vital in helping Emma Jane Designs partner with the women of Rwanda to create sustainable employment.

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