Dr. James Baker
Dr. Baker, an active genealogist for the past fifteen years, completed the requirements to become a BCG associate in 2011. He specializes in German, Midwest U.S., and early American research. He was an officer of the Sacramento German Genealogy Society (SGGS) and has contributed numerous articles to its quarterly, Der Blumenbaum. He also has written articles for the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Magazine and the NGS Quarterly. He is a member of NGS and SGGS. For the past ten years, he has volunteered at the Sacramento FamilySearch Library. In 2014, he presented ten different webinars at the library that were webcast to other libraries throughout northern California; he also presented a recent webinar for the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree community. He has given more than 100 genealogy presentations during the past three years at local, regional, and national events. Dr. Baker earned a PhD in sociology and social psychology from the University of Utah. He is retired from an aerospace and business management career in which he consulted for many large companies, including AT&T, Boeing, Cessna, Fiat, General Electric, Honeywell, Lockheed-Martin, Magnavox, Raytheon, and Unisys. He has been an adjunct professor of sociology at UCLA and USC. His most fun job was being the “piano-man” at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor.
Maureen Brady
Maureen Brady, of Chicago, Illinois, a former school librarian and computer educator, has more than thirty years’ experience with family history research and is now a professional genealogist. She has traced her own Scottish roots back to the end of the 17th century and beyond, and has also pursued Chicago area, the trans-Allegheny U.S., Quebec, Irish and Swedish research. She is the co-director and trainer for the Crystal Lake (IL) Family History Center. Maureen has made numerous presentations to Illinois and Wisconsin genealogical societies, libraries, conferences and workshops, including presenting at the 2002 National Genealogical Society Conference in the States. Her topics include Chicago and Cook County research, Scottish research, Internet sources, and using FamilySearch® and Family History Centers. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and a life member of the Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society, the Chicago Genealogical Society, the Ohio Genealogy Society and the McHenry County (Illinois) Genealogical Society. She is also active in the British Interest Group of Wisconsin & Illinois (BIGWILL), the Illinois St. Andrew Society’s Scottish Genealogical Group, the National Genealogical Society, the Lake County (Illinois) Genealogical Society and the Clan Donnachaidh Society.
Margo Fariss Brewer
Margo Fariss Brewer is an active genealogical instructor, consultant, and lecturer who resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is the co-leader of Ann-Mar Genealogy Trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City which she finds strengthens her research and teaching skills. She also teaches 5 genealogy courses (Beginning through Advance, Telling the Rest of Your Family’s Story and a Genealogy Computer Lab at Duke University’s OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute where she has been on the faculty since 2004. Her specialties are methodology, military and land records, courthouse research and assisted research trips to the Family History Library. Her focus is on records within the continental United States. Margo is the President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society, Virginia Genealogical Society, and several other state and local societies. email: Genealogist4U@gmail.com. Website: www.Genealogist4U.com. Office: 919-967-9280.
Jack Butler
Jack Butler, of Kissimmee, Florida, is an experienced professional genealogist, lecturer, and author who has been helping folks track their ancestors for more than ten years. As a 6th generation Floridian, with strong ties to neighboring states, he has researched extensively throughout the South. But as his client’s ancestors frequently came south from points north, Jack has also conducted significant work in New England, Canada and the United Kingdom. He currently serves as Past President of the Florida State Genealogical Society and President of the Florida Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
Patricia Charpentier
Patricia Charpentier, author of the multi-award-winning book, Eating an Elephant: Write Your Life One Bite at a Time, teaches, writes, edits, ghostwrites, and publishes personal and family history and life-based stories. She is a popular speaker who, since 1999, has helped hundreds of people write and publish the most important stories of their lives.
Patricia offers live workshops and ongoing courses, including programs that utilize videos, one-on-one coaching, group Q&A calls, and more to help people succeed in writing the story of a lifetime. To date, she has coauthored, edited, and published more than fifty personal and family histories. Her belief about capturing stories is: The only way to do this wrong is to not do it at all. Patricia lives in Orlando with her golf-loving husband Bob and enjoys to dance for exercise, although she is grateful for the motto of the studio: There are no mistakes, only solos. Visit Patricia at www.writingyourlife.org.
Crista Cowan
Crista has been doing genealogy since she was a child. She has been employed at the Corporate Office of Ancestry.com since 2004. Around here she’s known as “The Barefoot Genealogist”. At Ancestry.com’s corporate office, she is very busy with genealogy research projects for the Ancestry Marketing and PR teams, including genetic genealogy research for the TV show Long Lost Family; being an internal genealogy consultant for Product Management and UX teams; creating, producing, and starring in a weekly YouTube show, The Barefoot Genealogist. Crista is seen around the country speaking at conferences and events, teaching people basic genealogy methodology and Ancestry site usage, and interacting with our Ancestry community through social media. She and her husband and children reside in the Provo, Utah area.. Her specialties include descendancy research, Jewish immigration, and sharing family history with the genealogically challenged!
Debra Fleming
Debra S. Fleming is the principal of The Ancestry Detective, LLC a genealogical research firm founded in Pasco County, Florida. She has been a practicing genealogist for ten years, trading her research time between her many New England immigrant ancestors and her husband’s southern colonials. Debra is the Genealogy Instructor for the University of South Florida OSHER Lifelong Learning Center where she has been teaching Genealogy Courses since early 2007 and was inducted as a Roll of Honor Instructor in May, 2010. She is a graduate of Florida State University, where she majored in Creative Writing and minored in her passion, Religion and is an alumni of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). She is a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE). You can learn more about Debra at www.theancestrydetective.com and you can contact her at ancestrydetective@mac.com.
Jim Greene
Jim Greene is Product Marketing Manager at FamilySearch.org in Salt Lake City, Utah. After serving a two year LDS Church mission to Argentina, Jim graduated with bachelor degrees in both Spanish and Business Management from Brigham Young University, then earned an MBA degree from Penn State. Jim worked for IBM for 10 years in New York and Salt Lake City. Jim Greene has 30 years’ experience in the computer industry, working at IBM and Novell before coming to FamilySearch seven years ago as a Product Manager. Jim is the marketing manager over communication and messaging about all FamilySearch products. Jim is an avid bicyclist, and commutes daily to downtown Salt Lake City on his bike from his home in Sandy, UT. Jim and his wife Charity have 4 children.
Gregg Gronlund
Gregg Gronlund, of Orlando, Florida, is Branch Manager of the West Oaks Branch Library and Genealogy Center of the Orange County Library System. He is also a distinguished member of the Board of the Central Florida Genealogical Society, as well as its former president. He is also the former Head of the Genealogical and Law Departments at the Orange County Library System. Gregg graduated with a Master’s Degree from the University of South Florida and a BA from Duke University.
Jeff Haines
Jeff Haines, Raleigh, North Carolina, is a professional genealogist specializing in the Carolinas and British West Indies. He is a past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and is the current president of the North Carolina Chapter. He is the author of the National Genealogical Society’s Research in the States Series volume on North Carolina and is a former editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal. He has been a board-certified genealogist since 1996.
Cindy J. Hineman
Cindy J. Hineman has been a Life Writing Expert and Coach, as well as a professional genealogist for nearly 20 years. She has severed as the president of the Indian River Genealogical Society and on the Florida State Genealogical Society as a Conference Chair and Trustee. Today, Cindy is a Brand Ambassador and Instructor for TSOLife.
Judge Lawrence Kirkwood
Lawrence R. Kirkwood is the past president of the Florida State Genealogical Society and past president of the Central Florida Genealogical Society. Kirkwood was born in Chicago. He attended Florida Southern College for a Bachelor of Arts degree, the University of Florida College of Law for a juris doctorate, and the University of Nevada-Reno for a Master of Judicial Studies degree. He was a circuit judge in Orange County, Florida since 1981 and recently retired after serving six years as a senior judge on the Florida Ninth Circuit Court. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1977 to 1980 representing the 38th district. Judge Kirkwood is an avid genealogist and highlights the connections between the law and genealogy.
Todd Knowles
W. Todd Knowles AG, of Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the world’s foremost experts on Jewish genealogy. He is the creator of The Knowles Collection which contains the records of almost 1.4 million Jewish people! He is a member of the International Patron Services team at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. After being introduced to family history at the age of 12, he soon discovered his Jewish roots. The journey to find these Polish Jews has led to the creation of the Knowles Collection, six databases that as of May 1, 2016, contain the genealogical records of over 1.4 million people. Todd, a professional genealogist, has spoken throughout the world and his articles have been widely published.
Daniel Poffenberger
Daniel Poffenberger AG® is the Supervisor of the British Research Team for the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. He is accredited by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) in English research. He has been a professional genealogist for 26 years and has also worked as a US and Canada Research Consultant. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brigham Young University in Political Science, with a minor in Family and Community History. He and his wife Keirstin have been married for 28 years and have 5 children. Dan has presented at hundreds of conferences around the United States and around the world!
C. Ann Staley
Ann Staley is an instructor, consultant, trip leader and a lecturer at local, state and national conferences. Raised in Mobile, AL, Ann has been researching her family since 1980 from Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia to France, England, and Germany. She is the Education Chairman and Webmaster for the Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc.; the Secretary of the Genealogical Speakers Guild; a trustee of the Florida State Genealogical Society; on the faculty of The National Institute for Genealogical Studies; and has been an associate of the Board for Certification of Genealogists since 2000. Ann’s enthusiasm for genealogy is contagious and her stimulating programs are very informative. Her memberships include the National Genealogical Society; Association of Professional Genealogists; Genealogical Speakers Guild; Florida State Genealogical Society; and the Jacksonville [FL] Genealogical Society, Inc. (life member).
Betty Jo Stockton
Betty Jo Stockton is a native of Orlando and a retired school librarian, with a Bachelor’s & Master’s degree in Education/Library Media. She has volunteered as a genealogical librarian at the Par St Family History Center for more than 22 years and teaches genealogy classes throughout Central Florida. As a member of the Board of the Central FL Genealogical Society, she serves as corresponding secretary and publication chair. She edits the Society’s quarterly journal, Buried Treasures, and is the author/compiler of 17 books of Central Florida records. She also served as Genealogical Research Chair for the Orlando DAR Chapter. She has been working on her own family’s history for almost 50 years, and finally documented her great grandfather after a 45-year search.
Julie Stoddard
Julie Stoddard, from Salt Lake City, Utah, is an Accredited Genealogist® who has been researching for over ten years. She received a BA in Family History-Genealogy from BYU and is accredited in the United States Mid-South Region. She has also researched in most other areas in the United States and in England. She enjoys teaching at various conferences, as well as in small group settings. She loves mentoring beginning genealogists, especially in helping them get hooked on family history. Her personal philosophy is that 1) there are very few brick walls once you understand all of the records that are available, and 2) an important basis for successful genealogy is to understand the best steps to take when solving a research problem!