JGSI member Steven Flack to discuss the impact of discovering family secrets in free live webinar on May 3

Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois member Steven Flack will speak on “When DNA or Documents Reveal Life-Altering Origin Secrets” on Sunday, May 3, 2020, in a free live webinar from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois. His presentation will begin at 2 p.m. CDT.

Genealogists may uncover a family secret of a relative, in some cases someone’s origin story, the most fundamental and potent secret of all. This knowledge may arise from DNA test results, which link cousins across generations, or from documents that are passively obtained. In this presentation, Steven will share how to decide on and obtain the additional input you need to learn the truth. The DNA section demonstrates the “What Are The Odds” tool to triangulate unknown or uncertain parentage, as well as an empirical way to calibrate the DNA of highly endogamous families.

“An unknown family secret revelation is life-altering; it’s essential to decide whether and how to ethically and responsibly unwrap the secret,” Steven said. “I will use five riveting family secret stories, several involving parentage, along with extensive rich graphics to ensure a robust learning experience.”

A native New Yorker, Steven Flack has lived in the Chicago area since 1995. His career evolved from entrepreneurship to global product marketing consulting in Europe, Asia and Israel. Flack works as a project manager, leading diverse software developers to facilitate efficient processing of insurance claims.

Flack feels it is important that genealogists learn to maximize the efficiency of genealogy research efforts.