The Board for Certification of Genealogists Selects 2021–2022 Officers and Welcomes Trustees

At its semi-annual meeting held virtually on 4 October 2021, the Board of Trustees of the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) elected officers for the coming year. Elected were:

President: LaBrenda Garrett - Nelson, JD, LLM, CG^®, CGL℠, of Washington, D.C.
Vice President: Faye Jenkins Stallings, CG^®, of Texas
Secretary: Patricia Lee Hobbs, CG^®, of Missouri
Treasurer: Scott M. Wilds, CG^®, of Pennsylvania
Member at Large: Laurel T. Baty, CG^®, of Maryland
Member at Large: Darcie Hind Posz, CG^®, of Washington, D.C.

BCG welcomes three returning and three new trustees:

Returning trustees:
Angela McGhie, CG^®, of Maryland.
Darcie Hind Posz, CG^®, of Washington, D.C.
Richard G. Sayre, CG^®, CGL℠, FUGA of Utah.

Newly elected trustees:
Gary Ball-Kilbourne, PhD, CG^®, of North Dakota. Gary was elected by the board to complete the two year term of an open board seat. Board-certified in 2019, Gary is an experienced researcher, educator, writer, and editor. His ancestral research finds him focusing on Maryland, colonial Connecticut and New Sweden, England, Germany, and Hungary. He also has special interests in religious sources and in methodologies for getting around missing records. He teaches in the Boston University genealogy program and mentors for GenProof study groups. He has published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly as well as other journals and magazines. Gary holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in religion from Vanderbilt University. In his previous career, he was a pastor and a publishing executive, as well as a volunteer certified parliamentarian. He enjoys spending time with his wife, two grown sons, four grandchildren, and a feisty Chihuahua.

Matthew Blaine Berry, CG^®, of California. Matthew was board-certified in 2019 and is married with one daughter. With grandparents hailing from the Midwest, deep South, New England, and Canada, his genealogical research has spanned much of the country. Matt is the Conference Chairperson for the National Genealogical Society 2022 Family History Conference in Sacramento, California. He is currently Treasurer of the California Genealogical Society, Treasurer of the Friends of the Livermore Public Library, and was a Trustee of the Livermore Public Library from 2012 to 2021. Prior to pursuing genealogy full time, Matt was a vice-president at Wells Fargo Bank and spent fifteen years as a satellite systems engineer at Lockheed Martin. He is a certified Project Management Professional. Matt attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a BA in Applied Mathematics and an MS in Operations Research. He also received an MBA, with a Finance concentration, from Santa Clara University. Matt’s other passion is hiking. He has walked the Camino de Santiago twice (so far) and enjoys day hikes in the Bay Area and Yosemite National Park.

Mary Kircher Roddy, CG^®, of Washington. Mary was board-certified in 2019. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from the University of California, Riverside, and a Master in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas. She has worked as a Certified Public Accountant since 1984. She earned a Certificate in Genealogy and Family History from the University of Washington. Mary began genealogy research on her own family in 2000, and since about 2010 has worked part-time as a genealogist, speaking to societies and at conferences, and doing research and genealogy coaching for clients. She has written for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, NGS Magazine, FGS Forum, Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, and numerous society publications. She is a graduate of ProGen 31 and is a mentor for ProGen 48. She currently serves as Treasurer for the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Other continuing trustees for the coming year are Shannon Green, CG^®; David S. Ouimette, CG^®, CGL℠; Karen Stanbary, CG^®; and Mary O’Brien Vidlak, CG^®. Michael S. Ramage, JD, CG^®, continues as General Counsel to the Board, and Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG^®, CGL℠, continues as Executive Director.

All fifteen trustees are board-certified, and all serve without compensation. Five were elected this year by certified associates. The terms of office of the new trustees began at the end of the 4 October 2021 board meeting.

The words Certified Genealogist and its acronym, CG, are a registered certification mark, and the designations Certified Genealogical Lecturer and its acronym, CGL, are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.