About

I worked as a tax lawyer for 35 years before retiring from a partner-level position at Ernst & Young in 2013. I am now an author, lecturer, teacher, Certified Genealogist^® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer^SM. In 2021, I was elected as the 170th Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, the independent honorary society of the leading published scholars in the field of American genealogy. Founded in 1940, the ASG is limited to fifty life-time members designated as Fellows.

I became a Board-certified Genealogist (no. 1065) in 2015. I was elected to three three-year terms as a Trustee and served two years as Treasurer of the Board for Certification of Genealogists. I also served as President of BCG from 2019-2022. I am on the editorial board of both the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.

In 2019, I conceived, created, and coordinated the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy’s inaugural African American genealogy course, 1619-2019: Four Hundred Years of African American Genealogy. The Utah Genealogical Association awarded me the 2019 Distinguished Service Award “for instrumental guidance in support of new programs and codified policies for SLIG.” I also serve on the faculty of the three other major genealogical institutes: the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, and the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research.

From 2017-2023 I served as the Registrar General of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, a national lineage society that honors ancestors who were enslaved in the United States. I also worked as a facilitator (teaching assistant) in the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate Online Program (Fall 2016 through the Summer of 2019), and volunteered as a mentor for ProGen Study 37 (June 2018 through June 2019).

I am available to lecture at local, regional, and national genealogical conferences as well as for libraries and societies. See the Speaking page on this website.

*The words Certified Genealogist and the designation CG are registered certification marks, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer and CGL are service marks, of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic competency evaluations, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.