Nicka Sewell-Smith is a host, consultant, and documentarian with more than 20 years of experience as a genealogist. She has extensive experience in researching the enslaved and their communities, is an expert in Mississippi Delta genealogy, and currently serves as a senior story producer at Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics.
Nicka has diverse and varied experience in media with a background in audio, video, and written communications. She’s appeared on TODAY, CNN, MSNBC, an Emmy winning episode of Who Do You Think You Are, and has been interviewed by Oakland Tribune, National Geographic, and TIME. She is the host of BlackProGen LIVE, an innovative web show with more than 130 episodes focused on people of color genealogy and family history.
She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, a member of two lineage societies (Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage (SDUSMP), National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)), and a past board member of the California Genealogical Society (CGS) and the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC). Nicka served as the chair of the Outreach and Education Committee for AAGSNC, and is the former project manager for the Alameda County, CA Youth Ancestral Project where more than 325 youth were taught the value of family history.
