UGA Distinguished Service Award to Kelly Summers

The UGA Distinguished service award “is granted for outstanding service to the Association.” At the SLIG 2021 banquet, this award was presented to UGA’s current president: Kelly Summers.

Kelly has been a stalwart leader and advocate for UGA. In her role she has sought to participate in, enhance, and bring forward new UGA programs and educational opportunities. Kelly has championed better compensation to our webinar presenters and Crossroad’s magazine contributors. She envisioned and developed a new webinar series for aspiring professional genealogists, the Genealogy ProTalk webinar is now one of UGA’s month offerings. Under her leadership the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has continued to grow and offer more expansive advanced education opportunities, including Kelly’s recent coordination of the Chinese Ancestry course.

Kelly has served on the executive committee for the past 5 years and has been president of UGA for the past 4 years. During her time, we have seen immense growth in membership and offerings. She has also demonstrated quality leadership and sound judgement. She has counseled with and guided the UGA board through tough discussions and challenging decisions and helped us to enhance the goal of offering premier genealogical education.

Beyond UGA, Kelly is an Accredited Genealogist through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists in the US Midwestern, US Pacific, Mexico, and Spain regions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Family and Community History from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah. Kelly designs curriculum and teaches university courses at Brigham Young University and Salt Lake Community College. Kelly continues to support genealogy education inside and out of UGA, and the board of directors is honored to grant her this distinguished award.

Congratulations!