RootsTech 2026 will announce seven keynote speakers, three of whom will speak at the in-person event and four who will speak virtually.
The global family history gathering (themed “Together” and scheduled for March 5-7, with an in-person event in Salt Lake City and available online in multiple languages at RootsTech.org) will feature the following keynote speakers, according to a Jan. 5 news release:
in-person keynote speaker
National Football League Hall of Famer and Super Bowl MVP Steve Young, Academy Award-winning actress and author Marlee Matlin, and National Geographic explorer, author, and historian Tara Roberts on Saturday, March 7th.
virtual keynote speaker
The virtual keynote will be available on demand starting February 13th. Additionally, RootsTech’s full class schedule will be available starting January 8th.
About face-to-face speakers
steve young
According to the FamilySearch Blog, athlete, philanthropist, and author Steve Young is best known for his professional American football career from 1985 to 1999.
But he is also “a great example of balancing success, notoriety and family connections,” RootsTech director Jonathan Wing said in a news release. “He continues to use his influence to instill hope in underserved communities and promote physical, social and mental health.”
After a promising career in high school football, Young attended Brigham Young University, where he was a unanimous All-American and a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001 for his accomplishments at BYU.
After college, Young joined the NFL, primarily playing for the San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler, a three-time first-team All-Pro selection, and was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994. Additionally, Young won three Super Bowls and was Super Bowl MVP in 1995.
Marley Matlin
Marlee Matlin is a Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated actress best known for her roles on popular television shows such as “The West Wing” and “Switched at Birth.”
She was also the first deaf person to win an Academy Award, winning in 1987 at the age of 21 for her role in “Children of a Lesser God.” This honor made her the youngest woman in history to win Best Actress, a record that still stands.
Born and raised in Illinois, Matlin lost her hearing when she was 18 months old due to illness and a high fever.
At the age of eight, she was cast as Dorothy in a production of “The Wizard of Oz” at the International Center for the Deaf Arts. Just a few years later, at the age of 12, she caught the attention of actor Henry Winkler, who saw her perform at an arts festival for deaf children.
Throughout his career, many of Matlin’s projects have focused on the deaf community, particularly through increased visibility in film and television.
Tara Roberts
Tara Roberts is a scuba diver, storyteller, and National Geographic explorer in residence. Previously a communications director for a global nonprofit organization, she changed the trajectory of her career when she learned about Diving With a Purpose, a nonprofit organization that explores sunken slave ships, recovers as many artifacts as possible, and preserves the stories of lost passengers.
Obtaining my scuba diving certification was not an easy process. Roberts even had the tip of his finger bitten by a fish while training near Sri Lanka. But Roberts persevered and is now assisting historians and archaeologists in documenting the shipwreck and giving voice to the enslaved people who died while crossing the ocean.
It is estimated that more than 36,000 ships participated in the global transatlantic slave trade, and at least 500 of them sank during the voyage. Since 2005, Diving with a Purpose has discovered more than 18 shipwrecks involving four continents. Among the ships they discovered were the São José Paquete da Africa and the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in America.
About virtual speakers
jessica soho
Jessica Soho is an award-winning broadcast journalist and television host from the Philippines. Throughout her 40-year career, she has won the New York Festival’s Television and Film Awards, the first Filipino to win the George Foster Peabody Award, and the Reader’s Digest Asia Award for “Most Trusted Television Host in News and Current Affairs” for 13 consecutive years.
Jose Hernandez
Born into a family of Mexican immigrant farm workers, Jose Hernandez grew up with dreams of becoming an astronaut. In 2009, that dream became a reality when he participated in the historic NASA Space Shuttle STS-128 mission. He became the first Mexican-American NASA astronaut to travel to space. He was also the first astronaut to send a tweet to Earth in Spanish.
gardiner brothers
Michael and Matthew Gardiner, better known as the Gardiner brothers, are Irish dancers whose videos initially went viral during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, the two boys have been dancing since childhood and have shown an extraordinary talent for Irish dancing. In 2006, the Gardiner family moved to Galway, Ireland, where the brothers competed individually at the Hession School of Irish Dance and were five-time world champions in Irish dancing.
Michael Gardiner joined Riverdance (a famous Irish music and dance group that tours the world) in 2015, and Matthew Gardiner joined in 2017. Both danced with the company until 2024.
The brothers currently live and create content in Nashville, Tennessee.
Zico
Brazilian soccer star Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as “Zico,” is “one of the greatest attacking midfielders of all time,” according to FamilySearch. The player took his first soccer lessons while playing barefoot on the streets of his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. He then played for Flamengo, appearing in three World Cups, and founded the Zico Football Center during his professional career from 1971 to 1994.
