The NCGS Nominating Committee has proposed the following individuals for seats on the NCGS Board of Directors and on the Nominating Committee. These will be voted on by the NCGS membership at the NCGS Annual Meeting on October 25, 8:45am to 9:15am either in person in Raleigh NC or online. Members have been notified of the voting details by email.
TREASURER – Beth Snyder (incumbent)
Beth Snyder has been a dedicated CPA for over 40 years, bringing decades of expertise and commitment to her profession. Since 2021, she has served as the Treasurer of the North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS), where she combines her professional skills with her passion for genealogy.
Beth resides in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her family. She is happily married and the proud mother of two daughters. Her family continues to grow, as she enjoys spending time with her five beloved grandchildren.
Outside of her professional and family life, Beth’s interests are varied. She enjoys researching her family history through genealogy, indulging in a good book, staying active with pickleball, and exploring nature through hiking.
SECRETARY – Jon Smith
Jon Smith possesses a background spanning music, computer science, and genealogy. His educational portfolio includes a Bachelor of Music from UNC-Greensboro, a Diploma of Music from the Vienna International Music Center, a Certificate of Computer Music Research from Florida State University, and a Masters of Science in Computer Science from Florida State University, with a focus on Artificial Intelligence.
His career trajectory spanned over 40 years in project management. He successfully completed projects in multiple states, Canada, UK, Australia, and India, and for a diverse range of entities including federal, state, and local governments, non-profits, and for-profit companies. He currently serves as an instructor of networking and computer programming courses for the Department of Defense and plans to retire in December of 2024.
Jon devotes considerable time and effort to genealogy. For the past six years, he continues to serve as an Instructor of Genealogy at Howard Community College (MD), where he develops his own course material. He currently serves as the Education Chair for several genealogical societies. His genealogy focus areas include family tree software, analytics, artificial intelligence, organization & collaboration, and DNA, especially endogamy and pedigree collapse. He provides regular briefings on various genealogical subjects throughout the Mid-Atlantic, to a variety of different sized genealogical groups.
His connection to North Carolina focuses on his 16 primary family lines, all present in the 1790 census in either Burke (later Caldwell) or Lincoln (later Catawba) census. He finds it difficult to find “non-cousins” in the Hickory, Lenoir, and Morganton triangle area.
DIRECTOR – Luke Alexander
Luke Alexander is a genealogist and community historian focusing on African-American and Indigenous heritage in the Carolinas. He has ancestry from several of the earliest recorded families of African origin in America, along with being of direct descent from the Lumbee, Waccamaw and Cape Fear Native-American nations.
Luke serves as vice-president of the Benjamin and Edith Spaulding Descendants Foundation, Inc. engaged in philanthropic activities in his ancestral hometown Farmers Union, NC. Luke is an inducted member of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) with lineage from his 4th great-grandfather William (Loughry) Lowry (1758-1847), a patriot ancestor of the Lumbee and Tuscarora communities of Robeson County, NC. Luke has also served as Librarian General of the Society of the First African Families of English America (SOFAFEA).
Luke has provided historical commentary on-air for WECT News, the NBC affiliate in Wilmington, NC. With co-author Andre Kearns, Luke was published in the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Journal (2020) and the inaugural SOFAFEA Journal (2022) with articles on their shared ancestor Emanuel Cumbo, a free man of Angolan descent who owned land near Jamestown, Virginia circa 1667. Luke is also an administrator of DNA research projects with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and GEDmatch.
DIRECTOR – Sandra Crowley (incumbent)
Sandra Crowley is an award-winning genealogist, author, and lecturer who presents at local, state, regional, and national events, including RootsTech. She currently serves as a Director and Chair of the Webinar Committee for the North Carolina Genealogical Society. Sandra is also a board member of the Texas State Genealogical Society, where she co-edits their journal Stirpes.
In 2025, she will take on the role of director for the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR). Sandra has held leadership positions with both the Dallas Genealogical Society and the Mid-Cities Genealogical Society, where she served as president of each. Recently, she was honored as a Fellow of the Texas State Genealogical Society (FTxSGS).
DIRECTOR – Anitra Fay
Anitra (Williams) Fay is a native of Arkansas who has deep, colonial North Carolina roots on her maternal and paternal lines. Retired from professions in psychology and music, genealogy and regional history are among her current passions. She serves as a co-administrator of the R-ZZ37 haplogroup project and is actively researching a branch of Williams Surname Group 8, which includes several descendant lines migrating to colonial NC. Other areas of research interest include Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Tennessee, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Wild West Show entertainment history vs. mythology.
She has held various executive positions and served on a number of boards including the Arkansas Psychological Association, the Fort Smith Symphony board, and Zonta International.
She received Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board honors at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville where she received her B. A. and M. A. in Psychology and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Currently she serves as a deacon of her church Westminster Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City.
Other interests include travel to genealogical sites of interest; music and music performance; weaving, knitting, and all things fiber; hiking; cooking; and spending time with her husband Ed, with whom they have shared an extensive, producing muscadine vineyard, and time with their son, his wife, and two grandchildren.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE – Gay Baynes
Gay H. Baynes combines a colorful career path with a deep curiosity about the history of America. Through researching her own family’s past, she has uncovered untold stories.
Gay holds a B.A. and M.A. in Dramatic Art from the University of North Carolina and a post-graduate certificate from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In genealogy, she holds a certificate from the Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research Course and ProGen.
As a Tarheel native, Gay utilizes the resources of the State Archives of North Carolina and the Library of Virginia. She has taught genealogy in libraries, online, and at senior communities. Gay especially enjoys mentoring beginning and intermediate family historians. She served on the board of the North Carolina Genealogical Society and was a Membership Chair for her local DAR chapter. In 2024, Gay will launch an online introductory genealogy course, “Gifts From Our Ancestors”. Gay is grateful to her ancestors who have enriched her life.