LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson

LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG(SM) earned a BA from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and both a Law degree and a Master of Laws degree from New York University. She worked as a corporate tax attorney for thirty-five years, including five years on the staff of the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress. She retired in 2013 and turned her attention to her longtime avocation of Genealogy. She is a Life member of both the National Genealogy Society and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (Greenville Upstate Chapter); she is also a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Laurens District Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society. In 2015 She joined the ranks of the genealogists who have passed the rigorous examination of The Board for Certification of Genealogists® (BCG), and currently holds both the Certified Genealogist® and the Certified Genealogical Lecturer(SM) credentials. In 2016 She was elected as a Trustee of BCG; she was re-elected as a Trustee in 2019 and also elected for the 2019-2020 term as the first African American President of BCG!

Hear LaBrenda discuss her book on the popular Genealogy blogtalkradio program: Research at the National Archives and Beyond: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bernicebennett/2016/08/26/researching-african-american-ancestors-labrenda-garrett-nelson-jd-llm-cgsm