• Black Family Genealogy And History Society | Phoenix Arizona

Lamont Monroe

Treasurer

Biographical Sketch: Graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology with BS Degree in Industrial Administration. Worked for 34 years in various capacities in Human Resources, from Human  Resources Generalist to Director of Human Resources. My Human Resources career experiences has been with Intel, Apple Computer, Sega of America, Netscape/AOL, North
Point Communications, San Diego Union Tribune and Maricopa County Employee Relations. I served on the Board of Directors for “Next Door” Domestic Violence Agency, for 8 years and
the Santa Clara County YMCA Board of Directors, for 5 years. I have been retired since 2012.

Role/Goal as an officer: I believe my number one goal, as Vice President of BFGHS is to support the President in achieving the short and long terms goals of our organization. My second goal, as Vice President, is to work with our Executive team and our organization’s committees to develop plans and objectives that are measurable and accountable, in order to provide “First Class” services to our members, donors and partners. My third goal, as Vice President, is to ensure that our member’s experiences and the services they receive will be viewed as a valuable resource. As a member of the Executive Board, I am committed to demonstrate effective leadership by: * Open and Honest communications * Being respectful of others * Listen with an open mind * Be trustworthy/transparent * Be accountable * Be Focused on the needs and goals of BFGHS.

Organizational Goal – We will strive to assist our members through education, research tools and resources, to document their families’ genealogy history. We will collaborate, network, teach and disseminate information with our membership and community, who have similar interest in preserving their family’s genealogy. We will have working labs and workshops to assist our members,in organizing their research to minimize brick walls and optimize the use of their time. Internal and external membership resources will be a key benefit to all of our membership.

Why I joined BFGHS: I joined Black Family Genealogy & History Society to initially search for my mother’s birth certificate and school records. That led me to begin to document the paternal and maternal side of our family tree. Prior to joining BFGHS, I did not have any experience or knowledge on how to start or where to begin my research. Most of the information I had collected was in many different areas, books and binders. None of it was organized. Additionally, since I did not have my mother’s birth certificate, my siblings and I started our journey of DNA testing, along with our cousins, to confirm the maternal side of our family. Since joining BFGHS, I have learned a lot about what I didn’t know and all the mistakes and hours I invested that could have been better used. By working and learning from other members of BFGHS, I believe I am on the right path to provide a platform for my siblings and our children to continue to document and research our family’s history, in a much more organized way.

  • Phoenix, AZ, United States
  • (408) 444-6903
  • contact@bfghs.org
  • bfghs.org

Personal Statement

My discoveries since joining BFGHS: Since joining BFGHS, I have had three “aha” discoveries in my research. #1. While attending a Special Interest Group (SIG) workshop six month ago, I discovered my grandmother’s marriage certificate to my mother’s biological father, in 1922, whom my mother never met. Additionally, my mother’s father passed away in 1954 and my mother believed he had passed away much earlier. #2 One of our BFGHS members found documents and land information for my cousins in North Carolina, confirming that they have owned their farmland dating back to 1917. This is significant because the State of North Carolina will provide them with special recognition. #3 BFGHS workshops, labs, and networking has assisted me in discovering that my mother went to an all black private school in New Jersey, prior to one of our own members and has led me to doing research on the school and searching for the school archives. I would like to pay it forward and help our members discover their “aha” discoveries, and many more my own, for our family history.