As a leader in promoting ethical behavior to the wider genealogical community, and as a first step in engaging on the issue of inclusiveness, the Board for Certification of Genealogists® (BCG) established a “Scholarship for African American Students” on 27 June 2020: https://bcgcertification.org/learning/african-american-scholarship/.

Today BCG is pleased to announce the winners of scholarships to cover up to $1,700 of the tuition, travel, and lodging expense of attending one of five premier national institutes. As part of this award, BCG will also waive its final application fee of $300 for scholarship recipients who submit portfolios of work to be considered for certification within three years of the announcement of an award. The winners for 2021 are:

James R. Morgan III (Hyattsville, Maryland)

Mr. Morgan, a Howard University graduate, is author of The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West (1867–1906), and winner of awards in history in 2019 and 2020.

LaJoy Y. Mosby (Columbia, Maryland)

Ms. Mosby is president of the central Maryland chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. She holds both a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and an MBA from Howard University.

Nikki Williams Sebastian (Tucker, Georgia)

Ms. Sebastian has published in the St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly. She has a bachelor’s degree in American history from Tulane University, and a Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Emory University.

“BCG is pleased to sponsor attendance at these high-quality educational offerings, with the goal of increasing the number of under-represented communities in the ranks of Certified Genealogists®,” said President LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG®, CGL℠.

Thank you to all of the applicants who expressed interest in furthering their genealogical education. BCG would welcome a submission from you next year for 2022 scholarships.

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