2023 Keynote Speakers

                          Lyle Gibson

Lyle Gibson, father and veteran, has been actively engaged in genealogical research since 1990.  His interest in history earned him a Master's from UMKC.  As a Fulbright Scholar, he spent several weeks in Senegal, West Africa.  He has spent over 18 years on the faculty of Metropolitan Community College (MCC) as a professor and active campus leader.
Gibson's first book, Black Tie White Tie: Chronicle of An American Family 1739-1940, written about his own family, was later made into a documentary.  He co-authored We Are the American People: Our Nation’s History Through Documents and is a contributing author to the newly published Black Homesteaders of the South. Gibson collaborates to create documentaries on American life, and is currently working on An American Story Series.
As an advocate and volunteer, Gibson has worked with numerous faculty, student, and civic organizations, receiving awards from Metropolitan Community College, Kansas City, KS public schools, MCC, American Association of Community Colleges, and National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. He is a George Washington Fellow of the SAR.  GenealogyKC welcomes his participation.   

                                 Erik Swierk

Erik Swierk is the Chief Technology Officer of Storied, focusing on ways to leverage technology to connect people with their past and present. He works alongside our amazing team with various roles to bridge the gap between ideas on paper and interactive features and encourages people to honor and preserve their own or shared stories.
Erik has been part of the creation of Storied from the beginning, where he started with NewspaperArchive, serving and supporting numerous aspects of the company for almost two decades. Involved in microfilm creation to search engine tuning and beyond, he provides a broad background in preservation which he continues to keep top of mind as technology evolves and our connections to the past with it.
Erik lives in rural Iowa with his wife, Elizabeth, and their five kids, some grown and some not so grown.