This post is not about an individual. It’s about business. But before we talk business, I need to talk about one individual. For that, I am sorry.
Yesterday, a colleague alerted me to an announcement on LinkedIn, the professional networking site. Misty Gillis, an experienced forensic genetic genealogist with more than 50 investigative leads to her credit, is leaving her part-time job at Parabon after little more than two years.
Due to the unfortunate convergence of a beverage and my laptop, I was on my phone at the time, so I posted a screenshot to my Facebook page with just one word: “Interesting.”
Because it was. But not as interesting as it was about to get!
Within minutes, the comments became a dogpile of people new to my page yet agitated over a short note about a big change at one of the top forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) companies in the world.
Misty’s LinkedIn post had piqued my interest for a few reasons, none of which seemed connected at the time. But why on Earth were people so fraught? The social media reaction was wild, so, of course, I locked in. Now, I know the threads are connected.
Parabon in Decline?
First, over the past several months, I’ve done a deep dive into the Forensic Genetic Genealogy Project by Dr. Tracey Dowdeswell at Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Dowdeswell compiles data on every publicly announced case resolved using FGG.1
I’d created this plot showing cumulative identifications by the top five FGG organizations. Obviously, the first takeaway is that Othram (blue line) dominates the field, raising concerns of an unhealthy monopoly.
The other is that Parabon’s rate of resolving cases (red line) has declined drastically, from 55 announced in 2019 to only ten in the last 12 months of data. As a result, I wasn’t surprised that they were downsizing their staff.
Turmoil at DNA Doe Project
Second, I had overlooked some major changes at the DNA Doe Project (DDP) until recently. Their top management has turned over twice in less than a year.
In August 2025, DDP had three executive directors, each with a different role and title. All three left in September, along with the Director of Lab Logistics.2 In October, the DDP website was updated to show founder Margaret Press as sole executive director, with three new directors in roles the prior team had held. All four have since been replaced by yet another team.
Curious.
The Story Lines Converge
This is where it gets really interesting. The three executive directors who left DDP in September 2025 started a new nonprofit called Compass IGG two months later. It’s mission is largely the same as DDP’s. Today, one day after she posted that she is leaving Parabon, Compass announced that Misty is joining them.
Making a nonprofit financially viable can take three to five years. For example, DDP didn’t pay a regular salary to any of its staff until 2022, its fifth year.3 As a startup nonprofit, Compass probably has a very small budget, making this a risky move for anyone leaving a big name like Parabon. Unless, of course, the long-term prospects at Parabon are dim.
The key takeaway is that FGG is a tough business. As of December 2025, Othram is credited with more than a third of all FGG identifications. Their growth trajectory is phenomenal. Meanwhile, some of their biggest competitors may be struggling. Top professionals are changing horses midstream. And there’s no shortage of aspiring genealogists who are willing to do this work for free.
Whatever happens next will be … interesting.
1 Not every investigative lead is announced to the public, so these numbers are almost certainly an undercount.
2 According to their LinkedIn profiles.
3 See DDP’s financial history here: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/823435932
