Check your email inboxes for an invitation to vote in this year’s ICAPGen Commissioner elections.  You should have received something with the subject line “Your Invitation to Vote in the Election: ICAPGen Commissioner Election”. 

The sender is  noreply@electionrunner.com , and last year some of the election invitations were routed to individuals’ spam folders, so be on the lookout!

Please select two from the following list of candidates for Commissioner.  This year’s candidates and their areas of accreditation are:

Tracy Zappala, AG  – United States Mid-South with an African American Specialty

Tracy specializes in Southern United States and African American Genealogy, has experience in teaching and research that spans 20 years. Tracy has worked in Family History Centers in Los Angeles, Oregon, and Utah and is an Accredited Genealogist in Mid- South United States and African American genealogy with ICAPGen. Tracy’s passion for Southern research was driven by her own family roots in Tennessee and South Carolina. She pursued an American Studies major at Brigham Young University. Later at the University of Southern California, she  took courses specializing in African American cinema and history. This gave her a unique perspective that has informed her research on people who were enslaved, and her appreciation for different cultures continues to drive her research interests. She has taken courses  in Family History at Brigham Young University and currently serves on the ICAPGen testing board. Tracy works at AncestryProGenealogists, where she specializes in unique cases, including those related to the South, African American history, Caribbean history, immigration, and numerous other localities and cultures. As a professional genealogist she contributes to the television program, “Who Do You Think You Are” and provides

Lynn Turner, AG – Spain

Lynn graduated from BYU in 2004 with an emphasis in Southern European and Latin American genealogy. In 2006 Lynn became accredited in Spanish genealogy/research. For the last 14 years he has worked for FamilySearch in various roles including support, collection management, partner services, and operations.

Daniel R. Jones, AG – Switzerland

Daniel is an Accredited Genealogist specializing in Swiss and German research. After graduating magna cum laude from Brigham Young University, Daniel worked professionally for over a dozen years in helping several high-profile clients with research all over Europe. He has experience in numerous archives across more than a dozen countries in Europe, North America, Africa, and Australia. Daniel has also presented at multiple national conferences, including FGS, IGHR, SLIG, FEEFHS, and RootsTech. He is currently a research specialist in Germanic and Slavic Europe for the Family History Library.

Daniel is interested in helping ICAPGen modernize its presence in the genealogical community, particularly through establishing guidelines on updating accreditation tests regarding online resources and identifying where DNA best fits in the accreditation process. His extensive research experience in numerous US and Canadian regions, all of the British Isles, and much of Europe give him a unique perspective for the ICAPGen organization as a whole.

Kathy Behling, AG – United States Mid-Atlantic

Kathy is a professional genealogist, conference speaker and consultant. Awarded a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University, she is accredited in the US Mid-Atlantic region. In addition to research in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, Kathy is also actively engaged in researching Danish, Swedish, and German ancestors and their descendants in North America. A member of the National Genealogical Society and the Association of Professional Genealogists, she also travels internationally for onsite research expeditions. Kathy has more than 30 years of experience finding elusive ancestral families and solving difficult family history cases for both local and international clients.

Evan Christensen, AG – Mexico

Evan Christensen, AG® is a professional genealogist at AncestryProGenealogists specializing in Southwestern U.S., Latin American and Southern European family history research. He is accredited in Mexican genealogy. An Ancestry employee of five years, Evan works full-time for his clients. In addition to this work, he has researched for the TV series Long Lost Family, Biography.com, and Ancestry’s “We’re Related” app. Evan graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in physiology and developmental biology. While studying as an undergraduate, he was captivated by the family history classes offered alongside his courses in genetics and molecular biology, and during his senior year, he completed a two-month genealogical research internship in Spain under the tutelage of Professor George R. Ryskamp, JD, AG®. With the experience gained on that trip, he orchestrates research trips to Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico and all over the rest of Latin America. He is fluent in both written and oral Spanish and can also interpret genealogical documents in Portuguese, Italian, and French. Just as he has found fulfillment in researching his own Mexican family lines, Evan is passionate about helping other Hispanic-Americans take pride in their own heritage.