In this presentation, Adwoa Ulzen-Setrakian, founder of spanDNA and Human Temple Therapeutics LLC, explores how genetic genealogy has become a powerful tool for families of African descent to reclaim their histories and restore connections severed by displacement, migration, and historical traumas. Through a family-centered approach, Adwoa demonstrates how commercial DNA testing can do more than uncover personal ancestry—it can reconstruct the bonds of kinship across generations and continents. Drawing from real-life case studies, Adwoa will share stories of how African-descended families are using genetic genealogy to facilitate reconnecting with lost relatives, restoring collective memory, and explore opportunities for healing from intergenerational wounds. Attendees will learn about the unique challenges faced by these families, especially when traditional records and oral histories fall short, and how spanDNA’s method helps bridge the gaps using DNA analysis, compassionate research, and a collaborative, community-based approach. A key focus will be the culmination of these efforts at gatherings such as the upcoming Transatlantic Genealogy Summit 2025, where families who have reconnected through DNA will come together to celebrate their shared heritage, foster deeper connections, and continue building their family legacies. Attendees will walk away with: Insight into how genetic genealogy can be a transformative tool for family legacy-building, particularly within the African diaspora. Practical knowledge of how to use commercial DNA testing platforms to connect with genetic relatives and uncover ancestral histories. A better understanding of how family reunions and summits, such as the Transatlantic Genealogy Summit, can serve as a powerful culmination of genealogical research and DNA connections. Real-life examples of success stories and the emotional impact of restoring long-lost family ties. This presentation may inspire families to see themselves as protagonists in their own stories, capable of uncovering veiled memories and reclaiming their place within the larger, interconnected human family.

Our ancestors were each surrounded by family, associates, and neighbors. By researching them, we discover additional records pointing to our own ancestors. Your Ancestor’s FAN Club shows you how to perform cluster research for your ancestors and their families, associates, and neighbors. This webinar was first released 21 December 2020 on the Genealogy Guys Learn website.

Researching early families in Kentucky and Virginia can be particularly challenging. Every location has multiple people of the same name making even surviving records difficult to sort. There are few available birth and death records and other records may be difficult to locate or non-existent. Learn effective strategies for researching that difficult early Kentucky or Virginia family.

Find biographical summaries, family histories, and local/county/state histories in collections from Canada (54), Europe (411), Latin America(1), Oceania (24) and the United States (1629). Tips for finding records easily – you will love the data.

The mitochondrial tree of humanity has been rewritten, connecting all of us more closely than ever before on the new Mitotree. Everyone receives mitochondrial DNA only from their mother, who receives it from her mother, and so forth, all the way back in time to Mitochondrial Eve. Mitochondrial DNA is never admixed with the DNA of the other parent, so you never have to sort out which lines it comes from. We are all leaves on the twigs on the branches of the tree of humankind. The mitochondrial tree had not been updated since 2016, but now, with more than a Million samples to work with, 50 times more than before, the tree structure has been expanded eight-fold by combining samples from academic publications, ancient DNA, public sources and testers at FamilyTreeDNA. The new Mitotree and tools provide information never before available to genealogists about their matrilineal lineages. In addition to the vastly expanded genetic tree, FamilyTreeDNA has rolled out the companion MitoDiscover, a dozen fascinating chapters in your mitochondrial book. As a Million Mito Team member, Roberta will explain the challenges we overcame to create the tree of humanity – and how it’s useful to genealogists. All genealogists can benefit from the results of the Million Mito Project, because everyone has mitochondrial DNA that holds keys to information never before available! Let those brick walls fall!!!

This video explains the types of records you may find for your ancestors in the Slavic world. Even Black Sea and Volga Germans will have records written in Cyrillic. I’ll talk about tools you can use to learn to decipher and read these records.

Autosomal DNA (atDNA) is a powerful tool for genealogists, offering a window into your broader family tree. This lecture explores the science of atDNA inheritance, its strengths and limitations, and practical ways to apply it to your genealogical research. Discover how atDNA can help you identify unknown ancestors, connect with relatives, and solve family mysteries.

An insight into the wealth of information that is available within newspapers including the British Newspaper Archive and The Gazette as well as hints and tips for getting more out of searching and finding useful articles within the newspapers.

Jonny will introduce and demonstrate a new tool at dnapainter.com that can help you analyze and showcase shared DNA.