African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com), is a District-based, Black-owned company that pioneered genetic ancestry tracing for Black people everywhere to reconnect with their roots. Co-founded by D.C. native Dr. Gina Paige and leading geneticist Dr. Rick Kittles, the company is fostering healthier Black identities with every single-lineage DNA test it dispenses.
Since AfricanAncestry.com launched in February 2003, it has evolved from assembling and mailing every test kit in the basement of Dr. Paige’s parents’ home to a state-of-the-art, all-digital platform that now processes ancestral results with unmatched accuracy in as little as four to six weeks. The company’s core value is to never sell or share its customers’ DNA for profit or otherwise and reportedly is the only consumer-based DNA company in the industry to do so.
“We haven’t had the same growth as others in the industry because we refuse to compromise our database or sell the genetic material of our family members to other companies including big Pharma,” said Paige. “So, when you do not see a multitude of media ads from us for example, it is because we are keeping our ‘house’ safe and secure for people who look like us.”
According to Dr. Paige, the company owns the largest database of African lineages among its competitors, which is critical to comparing DNA to determine ancestry. It has at least eight times more African samples than any other ancestry company and is the leader in tracing paternal and maternal ancestries to Africa using its PatriClan® Test Kits and MatriClan® DNA Kits.
Dr. Kittles, a George Washington University graduate, runs the company’s science department where he safeguards its database and leads the DNA matching process. He also serves as Senior Vice President for Research at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Together, Paige and Kittles have helped more than a million Black people — and their families — discover their African roots; forged partnerships and alliances that reach across the African Diaspora and back; fostered leaders among its all-Black staff; and grown the company through two recessions and COVID-19.
“Our relationship with AfricanAncestry.com is social entrepreneurship at its best,” said Derrick A. Young, co-founder, and president of MahoganyBooks. “We’re two small D.C.-based businesses that have joined forces to address issues around identity and cultural awareness for people of color and to improve our communities.”
African Ancestry Family Reunion
Most recently, Paige, who is the main decision-maker and steers the direction of the company, has been busy expanding African Ancestry’s capacity to take more testers to more African countries as part of its popular African Ancestry Family Reunion™ (AAFR) birthright journeys. The AAFRs are specially curated, all-inclusive experiences to the ancestral origins of its testers.
In 2021, AfricanAncestry.com formed an unprecedented alliance with the Republic of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs to formalize a citizenship offering for customers whose African Ancestry results trace to the country.
“When President Julius Maada Bio signed my documents saying I’m officially Sierra Leonean, when I took my oath, and he gave me my passport … it was a surreal feeling,” said Entrepreneur Prince Dynast Amir.
African Ancestry Family Reunions have also occurred during Ghana’s Year of Return in 2019, and other countries including Senegal and Cameroon.
“I was so moved and inspired by learning I share ancestry with the Mafa people of Cameroon today that I dedicated the first episode of a project documenting my self-love journey to my African roots,” said Kareema Bee, filmmaker, and content creator whose maternal family is from the D.C. area.
Upcoming AAFRs are planned for Cameroon this December and for the first time — the Federal Republic of Nigeria in January 2025. AAFR travelers will be fully immersed in cultural reclamation and healing events such as Door-of-No-Return tributes; ethnic foods, arts centers, and markets; and special African renaming ceremonies and ancestral Reveals on African soil.
To complement its Nigeria itinerary, D.C.-based Nigerian Center is offering African Ancestry customers a variety of language classes, including Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa languages tailored to meet the needs and interests of members who have traced their ancestry to Nigeria.
When asked why she is so enthusiastic about her work, Paige responds: “Knowing where we are from is not a novelty for Black people. It is a necessity. It is an honor to make that happen for my people.”
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I appreciate your kind assistance here.