7-8 AUGUST 2026

J. H. (“Jay”) Fonkert, CG, specializes in 19th-century Kentucky and Midwest family history research. His passions are family migrations and historical geography. He was Coordinator for the Midwest course for the 2024 NGS GRIP Institute, and he has taught in the Practicum and the Great Plains courses at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Jay served fifteen years as Editor of Generations (formerly Minnesota Genealogist) and he has published six articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. He is a Fellow of the Minnesota Genealogical Society.

Jessica Fontana previously worked as a researcher for Ancestry ProGenealogists and now has her own consulting business. She specializes in U.S. research, with experience in the Southern, Midwest, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as African American family history. Outside the U.S., she is comfortable researching in English, German and Hungarian records, as well as work on dual-citizenship applications in Luxembourg. Jessica is a member of EMBER—Early Midwest Black Education & Research; this collective focuses on reclaiming the stories of early Black pioneers in Upper Midwest States (1830s-1900s).

Elizabeth Williams Gomoll, CG, is professional board-certified genealogist. She is president of the Northland Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, a past Director of the Minnesota Genealogical Society, and a former co-editor of Generations (formerly Minnesota Genealogist). She is the author of With Love to All –a collection of WWI letters and photographs  and co-author of Husförhörslängder, Swedish Household Examination Records, Framing the Solutions to Your Swedish Ancestry Puzzles. Liz researches and lectures as Red Bird Genealogy Services (www.RedBirdGen.com).