Author Event: Black Ancestries

André Kearns is a genealogist, author, speaker, and founder and CEO of Black Ancestries, a company dedicated to helping families of African descent uncover, celebrate, and preserve their family histories. A nationally recognized voice in African American genealogy, André is passionate about recovering stories that have been overlooked, forgotten, or deliberately erased from the historical record.

Over the past two decades, André has traced his own family history from present-day Washington, D.C., to some of the earliest Africans in colonial Virginia, Revolutionary War Patriots, free people of color, and formerly enslaved families who helped build communities, institutions, and businesses during Reconstruction. These discoveries inspired Finding Cornerstone Stories: Uncovering Inspiration in Your Family's History, a guide to identifying the powerful family stories that shape identity, purpose, and belonging.

André serves as Vice President of the National Genealogical Society's Board of Directors and chairs its Development Committee, helping guide the strategy and growth of one of the…