The NCGS Nominating Committee has proposed the following individuals for seats on the NCGS Board of Directors. These will be voted on by the NCGS membership electronically. Members will will receive an email outlining the voting procedure.
PRESIDENT 2026-2027, David M. McCorkle (completing term of prior office holder)
David M. McCorkle is a native of North Carolina with deep roots on many lines dating back to the 1700s, primarily in the Mecklenburg County area. He wrote his first computer program in 1973, and has been working in the software industry for over 45 years. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
David is a land records expert with research experience in a wide variety of other records used by genealogists including court records, probate, colonial records, and governmental records, with a focus on North Carolina. He has an extensive background in computer software, and has recently been working on using Artificial Intelligence tools in genealogy.
David is the creator of the free website NC Land Grant Images and Data http://nclandgrants.com . This website contains searchable records for all 200,000+ land grants issued by North Carolina since 1663, along with over a million high quality images of original records. Many of these records cannot be viewed anywhere else outside of the State Archives of NC.
David is President and founder of NC Historical Records Online (NCHRO), a 501(c)(3) non-profit with a mission to provide public online access to images of original records and other relevant information useful to researching North Carolina history and genealogy. He is President of the North Carolina Genealogical Society, Vice President of the Friends of the (NC) Archives, and holds various positions with several other genealogy / history organizations.
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT 2026 – 2027, Tyrone Goodwyn (completing term of prior office holder)
Tyrone Goodwyn is a child of southeast North Carolina. Born and raised in Tidewater Virginia, yet he has spent his entire life regularly visiting the greater Cape Fear where free people of color landed circa 1750s. As the son of a Pender County Jacobs, he is related to most of the other FPOC surnames across the region and across the South. Since his retirement he has honed his research area and devotes himself to it full time: Researching and publishing the stories of colonial SE NC free people of color and their relatives, both enslaved and white.
He runs an internship at Old Dominion University to research & reconnect the families of the Custis-enslaved across time and across the various plantations. He partners with Colonial Williamsburg and the various Custis museums in Virginia as well.
His undergraduate degrees are in Marketing Management and in Management Information Systems from Old Dominion University. He also holds an MBA in Marketing from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Information Systems from George Mason University. He was a Systems Architect and Technical Director in the telecommunications industry pre-retirement.
In addition to NC Genealogical Society, he is a member of Virginia Genealogical Society, South Carolina Genealogical Society, National Genealogical Society, AAGHS (National, DC & Hampton Roads) and League of the Descendants of the Enslaved at Mt Vernon.
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT 2026 – 2027, Sandra Watts (incumbent)
Sandra began genealogy research in 1985 and has been a member of NCGS intermittently for many years. Her current position with NCGS is that of second vice president and chair of the Publications Committee, and she has also served as a Board member in the past.
Sandra lives in Wilkes County, NC, and is retired after 38 years in the banking industry. She spends her time volunteering for her local volunteer fire department as a medical responder and board member.
Sandra currently serves as the president of the board for historic Fort Defiance, Inc., located in Caldwell County, NC.
DIRECTOR 2026 – 2028, Heather Andolina
Heather Andolina is an Historian, with a Bachelors degree in History from Thomas More University and a Masters degree in History from Winthrop University. She has extensive museum, archival, and curatorial experience having previously worked at the Cincinnati History Museum, and the Wells Fargo History Museum. She has authored several historical essays for a number of websites.
She is the President of the non-profit organization Melungeon Heritage Association, as well as a former Director on the board of the Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband.
DIRECTOR 2026 – 2028, Renate Yarborough Sanders (incumbent)
Renate Yarborough Sanders is a genealogist, speaker, and educator who has been documenting her family history for over three decades. She descends from formerly enslaved ancestors, enslavers, and free people of color – all of whom hail from North Carolina
Renate is cohost of “Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy,” an archived YouTube show and platform. She has been featured on radio and television and has conducted research for many notable organizations and entities. She authors two blogs and is a member of several genealogical organizations as well as the lineage society, Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE 2026 – 2027, 2 positions, No recommendation
A proposed bylaw amendment will switch these positions from elected to appointed, along with other changes to the process of filling board positions. If the amendment is ratified, these positions will be appointed by the NCGS Board. If the amendment fails to get ratified, the current process allows the NCGS Board to appoint any vacancies. Because of this, the Nominating Committee felt it was best to not submit any candidates for these positions.