Ruth is the CEO of Black Opal Direct, a mine to market online sales portal for rough, polished gems and jewelry specializing in Australian opal.

Pioneering the use of social media, the Black Opal Direct YouTube channel is one of the most successful fine gem channels in the world with a subscriber base of over 200,000 and more than 1 million views per month.

Ruth trained as a conservation historian after a BA in African and Australian history and a postgrad in Communications. She has had much experience in the NFP sector, both outside industry and recently as part of the Opal Classification Committee. Ruth has contributed to and coordinated the process of industry consultation to devise a new opal nomeclature. In 2018 she presented the Committee’s draft to CIBJO in Bogata, Colombia.

A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, Ruth is currently launching the ICA initiative GemWomen, a space within the ICA membership for people for come together and network, online and in person.