James Worris Moore Leadership Academy Announces the Beta Cohort: Advancing the Future of Genealogical Leadership

The James Worris Moore Leadership Academy for advancing the future of genealogical leadership is proud to announce its beta cohort, an accomplished and diverse group of ten individuals representing the continued growth and future of genealogy. Following the successful inaugural alpha class of eight members, the Academy received a large and highly competitive applicant pool for its second year. The exceptional strength and breadth of the applicants led the Academy to expand this year’s cohort from eight to ten members.

Like the inaugural class, the beta cohort brings together members of Generation Z, millennials, and Generation X. Its members represent the South, Midwest, Northeast, Mountain West, and West Coast, with cultural roots and research interests extending across Africa, China, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Pacific Islands. Together, they bring African American, African, Louisiana Creole, Creek Freedmen, Samoan, Polynesian, and broader diaspora perspectives to the field.

The members of the beta cohort are genealogists, public historians, educators, attorneys, journalists, scientists, nonprofit founders, and community advocates. Their work spans DNA research, archival preservation, historic schools and cemeteries, African and diaspora genealogy, enslaved-person research, adoption and unknown parentage cases, oral history, and community education. They have led genealogical organizations, digitized historical records, published family and cultural histories, developed public programs, and helped individuals and communities recover stories that might otherwise have been lost.

The James Worris Moore Leadership Academy is committed to providing the mentorship, professional development, and collaborative learning opportunities these leaders need to expand their impact. Through the Academy, members of the beta cohort will strengthen their leadership skills, build lasting professional relationships, and contribute to a genealogical field that is more inclusive, accessible, and representative of the communities it serves.

The beta cohort reflects the depth of talent entering and advancing within genealogy. These individuals are not simply preparing for the future of the field; they are already helping to create it.

Introducing the Beta Class

 

Moné Bryant (Lancaster, Texas) is an African American genealogist, public historian, nonprofit founder, and community educator focused on documenting historically marginalized communities and preserving African American family histories in Louisiana and Texas. A descendant of formerly enslaved families in northwest Louisiana, Bryant uses traditional genealogy, land records, oral history, and community engagement. She serves as vice president of conference planning, history, and education for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, where she helps lead national programming, conference planning, strategic initiatives, and member engagement.

Bryant is also the founder and president of The Legacy Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to genealogy education, historical preservation, heirship property awareness, and community-based family history research. Her work examining displaced Black communities, historic churches, cemeteries, land ownership, and post-emancipation family networks has contributed to publications, presentations, and community initiatives, while expanding access to genealogy for younger researchers and community historians.

 

Chukwudi Emmanuel Ewa (Provo, Utah) is a Nigerian genealogist and genealogy student whose work focuses on African, African American, and African diaspora research. Growing up in Nigeria, Ewa witnessed the challenges created by limited access to records, insufficient awareness of research methods suited to African contexts, and the separation many Africans and members of the diaspora experience from their ancestral heritage. Ewa serves as vice president of the African Culture and Language Association at Brigham Young University, where he organizes lectures, panel discussions, cultural events, and educational programs centered on identity, ancestry, family history, and cultural preservation.

Ewa is also a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and is pursuing a degree in genealogy at Brigham Young University. His interests include archival research, oral traditions, DNA analysis, and historical storytelling, with particular emphasis on developing African-centered research methodologies and reconnecting people of African descent with ancestral relatives and communities.

 

Devra Harney (Conyers, Georgia) is an experienced genealogist specializing in Kentucky, Georgia, and Tennessee, with a particular focus on Black American genealogy and the history of railroad porters and maids. She serves as vice president of the Rockdale-Newton County Genealogical Society and is a former board member of the Georgia Genealogical Society. Her extensive volunteer service has included assisting researchers at the FamilySearch Center in Conyers, researching Black cemeteries and churches, supporting the relocation of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research to the University of Georgia, and helping prospective Daughters of the American Revolution members document their ancestry.

Harney helped establish a FamilySearch partnership to digitize Rockdale County’s 1870 tax records, has conducted research for PBS’s Finding Your Roots, and authored the Frazine Taylor Scholarship for IGHR. She has also hosted public workshops and facilitated a special interest group for prospective DAR and SAR members.

Daja E. Henry (Ridgeland, Mississippi) is a writer, family historian, and documentary photographer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her passion for genealogy began at age fourteen and continues as she reconnects branches of her family tree from New Orleans to China, the Caribbean, and Africa. Henry has woven her passions for history, travel, and storytelling into a career in journalism. Currently a staff writer at The Marshall Project, her work has appeared in several other publications, including The 19th, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, and High Country News. Her work has been recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists, Online News Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and Arizona Press Club, among other organizations.

Henry is the newsletter editor for the Memphis and Mid-South Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and previously served two terms as the chapter’s vice president. She has presented on Civil War pension files, Louisiana genealogy, and newspaper research and has self-published a book about her family history. She is bilingual and her work has taken her from the rich soil of the Mississippi Delta to the Malecón in Havana, Cuba. She is a tenth-generation New Orleanian and a proud graduate of Howard University.

 

Dr. Antoinette Jenkins (Stafford, Virginia), president and CEO of Afterwhile, LLC, is a genealogist and historic preservation advocate whose passion for family history was sparked early by curiosity about her diverse heritage. Growing up, she learned about her family’s history through the stories, photographs, traditions, and experiences shared by her elders. Following her mother’s unexpected passing during her freshman year of college, genealogical research became both a source of comfort and a personal mission. Over time, her research expanded from online sources to visits to archives, libraries, courthouses, and museums.

Dr. Jenkins holds a doctorate in human and organizational learning and has extensive leadership experience in higher education and workforce development. Her approach to genealogy blends academic rigor with a multifaceted perspective and deep appreciation for lived experiences. In addition to developing her professional practice, she contributes to local historic preservation as outreach and programming coordinator for the Old Port Royal School through Historic Port Royal. In 2025, she discovered that members of her family had funded, built, and operated the century-old, one-room schoolhouse established to educate African American students during segregation. Dr. Jenkins is a member of the National Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists, and Virginia Genealogical Society and is pursuing the Certified Genealogist^® credential.

 

Benita Law-Diao (Latham, New York) is a genealogist, community educator, and public history advocate whose interest in family history began at age ten. She is a member of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage and has held leadership roles with Outdoor Afro, AVillage, Inc., and the Alice Moore Black Arts & Cultural Center. Her public history work has included service with the Underground Railroad Education Center, John Brown Lives!, and the Adirondack Experience Museum, supporting research and programming that highlights Black history in the Adirondacks.

Law-Diao’s research focuses on recovering overlooked African American participation in early American and international history. In 2025, she presented research about her third-great-grandfather, who served aboard an American privateer and was imprisoned at Dartmoor Prison during the War of 1812 era. She has also contributed to an international project transcribing Civil War naval muster rolls and identifying Black sailors. Law-Diao is committed to preserving overlooked histories and engaging younger generations in genealogy.

 

Stephanie Miller (Macon, Georgia) is an attorney, genealogist, records preservation advocate, and public historian whose work brings together law, African American genealogy, archival preservation, and education. With more than two decades of legal experience, she helps researchers understand court records, legal documents, evidentiary issues, and the ways laws have shaped the historical record. Miller is the founder of Legacy Preservation, Inc., and serves as chief deputy clerk of the Bibb County Superior Court Clerk’s Office in Macon. She is currently serving her second term as a director on the board of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, where she previously served as parliamentarian. Miller also co-founded the Enslaved People Project, an initiative dedicated to identifying, preserving, and interpreting records documenting enslaved people in Bibb County. The project grew from her decade-long effort to digitize Superior Court records dating from 1823 to the present and has contributed to an exhibition at the Tubman Museum.

Tracey Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) is an African American genealogist, family historian, and community advocate whose passion for genealogy began more than twenty-five years ago following the loss of her mother and grandmother. With Creek Freedmen ancestry, Miller brings a distinctive perspective to researching communities whose histories have often been overlooked. She is the founder of Nikki’s Roots & Records, where she helps individuals and families discover, document, and preserve their histories. Tracey is also a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, and Ohio Genealogical Society.

In addition to her genealogical work, she brings nearly thirty years of leadership experience at Procter & Gamble, including her current role as director of global internal audit. Her accomplishments include writing family history books, reconnecting clients with previously unknown relatives, and serving her community through nonprofit leadership, grant review, tax assistance, and diversity initiatives. Miller is committed to expanding access to genealogy for underrepresented communities.

 

Dr. Georgina To’a Salazar (San Diego, California) is a scientific writer and researcher whose work focuses on Samoan cultural documentation and diaspora engagement. Trained in biomedical engineering and experienced in global research settings, she brings a structured, inquiry-driven approach to understanding heritage.

Dr. Salazar earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. Her heritage and cultural work centers on amplifying cultural knowledge, preserving community narratives, and supporting intergenerational connections within the diaspora. In 2025, she coordinated an introductory Samoan genealogy workshop series with the Samoa Association of San Diego after successfully obtaining support from The San Diego Foundation. The series explored how traditional oral knowledge can be respectfully combined with DNA testing and archival research.

Dr. Salazar has published three essays on the Samoan cultural preservation platform Anavatau addressing genealogy, DNA testing, language, oratory, and cultural preservation. She was selected to participate in the 2026 Summer Internship for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics workshop at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Salazar is a member of the San Diego Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists, and Society of Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy.

Gina Sutherland (Waupaca, Wisconsin) is an investigative genetic genealogist whose personal journey began with the search for her own biological family. As an adoptee, Gina used genealogy and DNA research to identify and connect with biological relatives, inspiring her to help others facing similar questions. Since 2020, she has worked full-time with Gene Proof Genetic Genealogy Services, conducting unknown-parentage research, DNA analysis, document retrieval, family tree reconstruction, and complex investigative research.

Gina also volunteers with Wolf Pack DNA and as a WikiTree adoption angel. She has worked on more than eighty adoption and unknown-parentage cases, including searches involving multiple countries. Her preservation work includes documenting thousands of graves in more than fifty cemeteries through photography, GPS mapping, and headstone research. A member of several national, state, and local genealogical organizations, Gina is committed to helping individuals uncover family connections, solve difficult research questions, and preserve genealogical information for future generations.