Stacy is a marketer, an investigative genetic genealogist, and the self-appointed “mad scientist” of her own kitchen — always cooking up new recipes and stirring up craft cocktails. She’s also a relentless quoter of movie lines and song lyrics (especially anything from the ’80s) and is, by her own admission, a bit of a smartass. Truth be told, she’s WORKED at the smartassedness… improv classes at Rice University, Chicago’s Second City, AND additional acting classes in Houston, because if you’re going to commit to a bit, you commit.
She comes by all of it honestly. Primarily of English and Irish descent, her ancestors include tavern owners, distillers, rum runners, and ministers who preached for Prohibition — which more or less explains why she’s wired to be both rule-follower and rebel depending on the day.
After joining the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2018, what started as casual curiosity about her family tree became a full-blown obsession. She’s since joined more than two dozen lineage societies honoring ancestors who served in military, civil, patriotic, and occupational capacities.
Never one to half-step a passion, she also pursued serious credentials in the field — graduating from ProGen Study Group 62, earning an Investigative Genetic Genealogy Certificate from Ramapo College of New Jersey, and completing a Graduate Certificate in Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy from the University of New Haven. (Plot twist: it all turned into an actual career.)
Today, Stacy serves as Operations and Project Manager for Compass IGG & Advocacy, a startup nonprofit in the investigative genetic genealogy space, where her work centers on helping identify John and Jane Does and supporting families of the long-term missing. She also volunteers as an IGG practitioner with Compass IGG & Advocacy, and as a genealogist and lineage research specialist with the Daughters of the American Revolution at both State and National levels. On top of that, she serves as Co-Chair of the TXDAR Public Relations & Media Committee. In short: she built the career she once daydreamed about — just with significantly more spreadsheets than anticipated.
Off the clock, Stacy and her husband Mike fill their time with cooking, hiking, and traveling. The travel stories are the keepers — an almost-private sunset cruise aboard the Windy in Chicago; a mad dash to be among the last passengers back to the ship after the sun set over Santorini; and that one time their cruise ship lost power in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. (Thankfully, the bar stayed open. Priorities.)
These days, she’s investing her time and energy into learning how to use AI effectively for both personal and business use — the kind of person who collects online courses the way other people collect shoes. She still makes time to revisit old favorites like NCIS (the OG seasons, obviously — she has her own Bert the Farting Hippo and absolutely bawled when Abby left, Bert in tow), The Big Bang Theory, Grace and Frankie, and Cobra Kai. Because some characters deserve a second, third, and fourth viewing.