Director of Global Oral Genealogies

Michael Gray

Michael Gray is the Director of Global Oral Genealogies at FamilySearch International, where he leads global strategy, product innovation, and institutional partnerships to preserve tribal, village, and family heritage that exists primarily through oral tradition. With 22 years of experience as a Director of Product, venture builder, and people manager, he has worked across 35 countries spanning Africa, APAC, MENA, North America, and LATAM, designing businesses and digital products that address local market needs while respecting data sovereignty, cultural protocols, and local ownership. As the prior Head of Product for Africa and MENA, he built FamilySearch’s first digital products specifically designed for African and MENA users, overcoming challenges such as low literacy, limited connectivity, language limitations, offline access, and cultural context, and leading to explosive growth in annual active users and family name preservation.

Today, Michael directs the Global Oral Genealogies (OGEN) program across 24 countries, overseeing approximately 183 collection and audit contractors and seven cloud‑ and AI‑enabled platforms that support large‑scale, legally compliant, and sustainable oral history preservation. Under his leadership, regional teams have preserved millions of family names and memories and expanded access to family history and oral storytelling for millions of users. Michael speaks advanced Spanish and basic Arabic and thrives on cultural experiences, having lived with his wife and 7 children in Africa and MENA for almost 6 years.