Anna was born and raised in Sweden, where she began learning about genealogy by researching her own family around 20 years ago and taking her first DNA test in 2011. Her family tree, like those of many other Swedes, includes relatives who left for America. 

Living in California, Indiana, and New York for a few years each, and visiting her American relatives in Colorado, inspired Anna to become a professional genealogist with a focus on Swedish Americans. She studied Swedish genealogy, history, paleography (old handwriting), historical archives, Swedish American history, and non-digitized records of the Swedish National Archives (less than 5% available online), at the Swedish universities of Göteborg, Linköping, Stockholm, and Uppsala. Anna also holds an MBA in International Economy from the University of Uppsala and worked as an employee and consultant for among others Save the Children, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). 

Along with her more formal education, Anna completed various genealogy-related courses, covering topics such as: DNA tools and database research, genealogy research in the US, using historical maps, and Swedish and US genealogical database research. The courses were offered by Swedish and US historical societies, museums, libraries, national archives, and experts online. 

In addition, Anna gained valuable insights and practical training in using American historical records during her participation in the 14-month ProGen 63 Study Group. She further acquired experience by analyzing around 40 Swedish America related photo albums spanning from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, as well as undertaking genealogy and DNA-related assignments for Swedish Americans. Today, Anna is a member of the Swedish genealogical societies of Genealogiska föreningen and DiS-Öst, and the US based Association of Professional Genealogist.