Amy Hesseldahl and Gray Stabley Named Winners of 2026 APG New Professional Scholarship
1 June 2026
APG is pleased to announce Amy Hesseldahl of Hopewell Junction, NY, USA, and Gray Stabley of South Portland, ME, USA, as the winners of APG’s 2026 New Professional Scholarship.
The APG New Professional Scholarship was established in 2008 to recognize and support new professionals who have a strong interest in developing a career in the genealogical field. Applicants must have five years or less of professional service in the field. Winners receive complimentary registration to APG’s Virtual Professional Management Conference.
Amy Hesseldahl’s path into genealogy began with a search for her father’s biological parents, which revealed a profession she didn’t know she was seeking. Born and raised in Virginia, Amy now lives in the Hudson Valley of New York. Primary research is conducted in North Carolina, Virginia, and New York. She has completed the SLIG Advanced Methodologies course, Research Like a Pro Study Groups (RLP11 & DNA8), and holds a certificate from NYU in Instructional Design. Amy currently provides contract research services for a professional genealogist, with a focus on the Southern United States.Before genealogy, Amy built a career as a professional opera singer, earning a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall.
Gray Stabley grew up in Virginia but has been in Maine for the past 26 years. Following a career as an on-air meteorologist for 16 years, she earned her commercial driver’s license and drove a semi-truck cross country with her husband before starting her business, Gray Stabley Genealogy Services. Gray enjoys working on client projects of all types including finding brick wall ancestors, updating a family association book and most recently, organizing boxes of 1800s documents and scrapbooks. Gray has attended many institutes, courses, and webinars; this summer she will be attending Gen-Fed in Washington, D.C. A graduate of ProGen 61, Gray serves on the programming committee for APG’s New England Chapter and is on the boards of the Maine Genealogical Society and Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Congratulations to this year's winners!