Elissa Scalise Powell, CG^SM

Elissa has been doing genealogical research since 1985, and has been helping others find their ancestral roots since 1990. The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) certified her in 1995 as a Certified Genealogical Records Specialist^SM (CGRS), and changed her designation in 2005 to Certified Genealogist^SM (CG). She is one of about a dozen certified associates residing in the state of Pennsylvania. She is a Trustee for the Board for Certification of Genealogists (2006-2009) and their Exhibits Booth Coordinator responsible for BCG's exhibit space at major conferences since 2002.

She has conducted onsite research for clients in many western Pennsylvania counties and also in other places through the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. She has taught beginning genealogy classes and classes in the use of computer usage and resources at the Community College of Allegheny County and Butler County Community College.

She is the course coordinator for the Professional Genealogy course at the Institute for Genealogy and Historical Research held in June at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama and an instructor in the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy held in January in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also lectures both nationally and regionally. (See lectures link on sidebar.)

Elissa enjoys writing articles and book reviews for NGS NewsMagazine, the NGS Quarterly, the APG Quarterly, Digital Genealogist, and the now defunct Genealogical Computing.

She was a Director for the Association of Professional Genealogists from 2000 through 2005 and the Participating Societies Chairperson for the National Genealogical Society's 2003 Conference in Pittsburgh. Elissa is a past president of both the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society and the North Hills Genealogists as well as past newsletter editor for both, and past Program chairperson and Book Review Editor for the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society.

Elissa also appears in Episode 207 "Cemetery Records" of the PBS TV station KBYU's "Ancestors 2" series. For more information see the Ancestors2 website. She was co-editor of the Pioneer Cemeteries of Hampton Township, Allegheny County, PA. and Pioneer Cemeteries of Pine and Richland Townships, Allegheny County, PA. Please see the Publications list for an index to these books.

Elissa also belongs to many organizations and Pioneer Family programs. A quick glance at Elissa's southern Italian ancestry is provided here.

CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license after periodic evaluations by the Board.

Reed B. Powell

Reed Powell is a frequent lecturer on Genealogy & Computing in the Western Pennsylvania area. With over 30 years experience in the computer industry, his background includes software design, development and support, as well as marketing and sales experience. Lecture topics include the selection and of genealogy software, choosing a computer system, using the Internet for genealogy research, and the genealogical use of "high tech" facilities such as scanning & multimedia. He has written a column for the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society's newsletter, Jots From the Point, and articles for Genealogical Computing and Digital Genealogist. He is a member of the First Families of Western Pennsylvania organization.