Professional Genealogist
Michael A. WillisMichael Willis is an award-winning author and Professional Genealogist with 24 years' experience as a researcher, educator, and speaker specializing in African American Genealogy. As a passionate instructor and public speaker, he has presented on a range of topics such as researching courthouse records, United States Colored Troops of the Civil War and their widows, oral history, online research, the FamilySearch Catalog, Freedmen’s’ Bureau Records, and genetic genealogy.
Michael’s inspiration in the field began when his maternal grandmother taught him to memorize seven generations of his maternal ancestry at the age of eight years old. As a result, he recently published his first book, "When Your ANCESTORS Choose You: Finding Binkey" which is now available on Amazon. The book details his efforts to validate the oral history and solve 160-year-old mysteries, discover new relatives, find his 5x great-grandmother, and more!
Michael appeared on CBS13’s Good Day Sacramento (CW31) in 2018, 2019, and 2025 to promote the Annual African American Family History Seminar held in Sacramento, California where he instructed genealogical workshops 10 times. Michael's clients include two former California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) members, former California Assemblyman and current Sacramento County Sherriff, Jim Cooper, and former Senator and member of California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans, Steven Bradford, who wrote the foreword for his book.
Michael currently serves as Board Chair of the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California. He is also a member of Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, a non-profit genealogical support group for the Louisiana State Archives, the Terrebonne Genealogical Society in Houma, Louisiana, and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
For more information, please visit: https://michaelawillis.com