GLOBAL GENEALOGY DESERVES GLOBAL REPRESENTATION - Raising the Bar While Building the Bridge

As a professional genealogist specializing in Greek and Greek-American family history, I’ve come to deeply respect the value of professional credentials in our field. Designations like AG® (Accredited Genealogist) and CG® (Certified Genealogist) represent hard work, high standards, and accountability.

That said, it’s important to acknowledge a challenge many genealogists face—especially those working in underrepresented regions.

While BCG certification is not region-specific and does allow for flexibility in language and geographic scope, including the option to request non-English documents, ICAPGen accreditation is structured around regional specialties—and as of now, Greece is not one of them.

For genealogists working in areas like Greece, this means there is no formal accreditation track currently available, despite the complexity and depth of the research required. Greek genealogy often involves navigating:

• Historical scripts and shifting orthography (e.g., polytonic Greek, katharevousa vs. demotic)

• Multiple languages (Greek, Ottoman Turkish, Italian, Latin, French)

• Ecclesiastical records held by Orthodox parishes or Metropolises, often handwritten and fragile

• Fragmented civil archives that are inconsistently cataloged or digitized

• Name fluidity due to patronymics, regional dialects, and common name repetition

• Loss of records from wars, occupation, migration, or local disasters

• Complex local jurisdictions with unique municipal record-keeping practices

• Diaspora research layers, often involving multiple continents and record systems

｜Accreditation is a valuable benchmark, but it shouldn’t be the only one.｜

Until credentialing systems and organizations fully embrace the diversity of genealogical research across regions and cultures, many of us will continue to uphold rigorous standards, contribute to the field through scholarship and service, and support clients with care and accuracy—regardless of formal credentials.

I’m encouraged to hear that BCG may support Greek-language document options, and I appreciate colleagues who are pushing for greater inclusion within credentialing bodies. I also look forward to the day when a formal accreditation track exists for Greek research within ICAPGen—and I intend to pursue it when it does.

In the meantime, I’ll keep raising the bar—and helping build the bridge.