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President: Barbara Schmidt
Barbara lives in Germany and is active in the genealogy community there, including the development of its first national virtual genealogy conference. She is a partner representative for GenChat. Since joining the board as a director, Barbara has developed IGGP”s marketing materials and social media presence as well as moderating the German partner call. Among her goals for IGGP is to emphasize efforts to support partner societies in their work.
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Co-Vice President: Kenneth W. Heger
Ken is a director on the IGGP board and a partner representative for the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society. He is retired from the U.S. National Archives and lives in the United States. Ken has both a personal and professional interest in German genealogy and is an expert on little-known records at the Archives that are useful for genealogy research. He is leading an IGGP effort to expand the use of these governmental records for genealogical research.
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Vice President: Dirk Weissleder
Dirk is one of the founders of IGGP and continues to act as an ambassador to other nations for the IGGP and German genealogy in general. He lives in Germany, where he is the chairman of the national umbrella group for genealogy, the Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft genealogischer Verbände e. V. (DAGV).
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Secretary: Edie Adam.
Edie was the first elected secretary of the IGGP and developed the partnership”s newsletter, Partner Zeitung, which she still edits. In addition to the tasks of the secretary, she most recently led the team that put together the 2023 international conference. A resident of the United States, she previously served on the board of the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe.
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Treasurer: Gary Heyn
Gary”s lifelong interest in genealogy and history stems from the stories of his great-grandmother Lydia Heyn about the “olden days.” He lives in Minnesota, and this is his first time as a member of the IGGP board. His professional experience is in corporate governance. Gary has been serving as the treasurer of the Germanic Genealogical Society. In May, he published a nonfiction novel, Standing at the Grave: A Family”s Journey from the Grand Duchy of Posen to the Prairies of North Dakota. It follows the journey of his 3rd great-grandmother and her children from Gembitz Hauland Posen to America.
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| Directors at Large |
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Sabine Akabayov. Sabine lives in Israel but is a partner representative for the Ahnenforscherstammtisch Unna. She is a professional genealogist with expertise in U.S., German and Israeli research as well as forensic genealogy. This is the first time she is serving on the IGGP board. She participated in the DNA discussion at the 2023 conference and is involved in the introduction of a DNA-Stammtisch in Germany to help researchers learn about analyzing and utilizing their DNA data. One of her goals for the IGGP is to help existing partners to reap the benefits of the partnership.
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Andrea Bentschneider. Andrea is based in Germany and is among its leading expert genealogists. Her work is driven by her belief that every ancestor”s story deserves recognition. She has been president of partner the Association of German-speaking Professional Genealogists since 2013, and has helped shape modern standards and accreditation systems for genealogists in Germany. Her global experience, including a decade in New York City, has honed her adaptability and intercultural understanding. This is the first time she is serving on the IGGP board. One of her goals is to help partners benefit from each other”s experiences and possibly create joint projects.
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Garry Finkell. Garry is a current member of the board and a partner representative for the Palatines to America. He lives in the United States and is a liaison for the IGGP to the 2025 international conference being hosted in Columbus, Ohio, by PalAm. Garry began and manages the IGGP YouTube site. He also has been helping to moderate the English parter call.
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Timo Kracke. Timo lives in Germany and is a current member of the board. He is leading IGGP technology projects, including the transition to a new website. Timo is the vice president of the Oldenburgische Gesellschaft für Familienkunde e.V. for whom he also works as a partner representative. He is involved in other projects like a German genealogy podcast and project to find ways to interest young people in genealogy.
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Owen M. McCafferty II. Owen is a genealogist with expertise in the former German minority of southwest Lithuania (known as the Deutsche aus Litauen) as well as Polish and East Prussian research. He lives in the United States and is the founder and president of the partner society, the International Association of Germans from Lithuania (IAGL). He is the only board member who has contributed research for the BBC television program Who Do You Think You Are? This is the first time he is serving on the IGGP board; one of his goals is to help involve the next generation of genealogists and society leaders.
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