Members Celebrated at Annual Meeting for Outstanding Contributions to APG and the Genealogy Profession

10 December 2024 —APG recently honored several members for their professional achievements and service to the association and the genealogy profession. President John Boeren presented the awards at the organization’s 5 December 2024 Annual Members’ Meeting and Awards Presentation. This year’s recipients are: 

Laura G. Prescott Award for Exemplary Service to Professional Genealogy – Alice Childs, AG®
The Prescott Award recognizes services to the field of professional genealogy, exemplary professionalism, and continuing encouragement to other professional genealogists. The 2024 recipient, Alice Childs, selflessly gives much of her time to educating, mentoring, and inspiring genealogists of all stages. She was a mentor for ProGen 66, writes a blog called GenealogyNow, and has given presentations at conferences and institutes such as RootsTech, SLIG, and APG's PMC. Alice served for several years as the Communications Manager for SLIG and has done much volunteer work with the Church of Latter Day Saints. She has previously done family research work for Family Locket and her own business at alicechilds.com. She is currently the assistant director of Brigham Young University Center for Family History and Genealogy. 

Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit – Leslie Lawson
The Smallwood Award recognizes an APG member for their personal commitment and outstanding service to the Association. This year’s winner, Leslie Lawson, has been an active participant and pillar of APG for many years. A member of the APG Board of Directors from 2017-2020, she was instrumental in the launch and a founding member of the APG Forensic Special Interest Group (SIG). In particular, she was the backbone of the SIG Mentor program and provided countless hours of support to many members starting their education in forensic genealogy. Leslie is also active with her local APG Chapter and serves as their Chapter Liaison. 

Kathleen W. Hinckley Professional Achievement Award – Kip Sperry, AG®
The winner of the 2024 Hinckley Award, Kip Sperry, certainly meets the award criteria of exceptional professional achievement with contributions to the field of genealogy through individual excellence and ethical behavior. An Accredited Genealogist in the Midwestern states with the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists, Kip is Professor Emeritus of Family History, Department of Church History & Doctrine at Brigham Young University where he taught family history and American and LDS genealogical research methods and sources for over twenty-five years. He formerly worked at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and was former Associate Director at the BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy. Kip was national conference chair for four NGS Annual Conferences and a former NGS council member, and is a former editor of the Utah Genealogical Association’s Genealogical Journal and BYU Family Historian.

APG Quarterly Excellence Award – Jen Shaffer
This award recognizes excellence in writing for the APG Quarterly journal, and this year’s winner, Jen Shaffer, was recognized for her March 2024 article, “Expand Your Business with TikTok Videos.” The article represented a unique perspective about marketing in today’s digital landscape and was thoughtfully written in an engaging manner to encourage fellow professional genealogists to try something new to reach potential clients. 


Certificates of Appreciation
These recognize outstanding, continual, or unusual contributions to APG by a member or non-member: 

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!