Renate began seriously researching her paternal Yarborough line in 1997, after the death of her father. She learned that the progenitor of this line,her great-grandfather, Calvin, had been enslaved in North Carolina for the first 25 years of his life, and that during that time, he had multiple owners. Renate shares Calvin's slavery story on numerous platforms - at workshops and conferences, on webinars, and through her blog, "Into the LIGHT;" and is still working continuously to uncover more details of his life, both before and after emancipation.

Renate Yarborough Sanders has been formally engaged in genealogy research for 23 years.  She is the descendant of enslaved ancestors, as well as enslavers and free people of color. Renate authors two blogs: “Into the LIGHT”, focused on her own family history; and, “Genea-Related”, a platform for presenting a variety of information of genealogical interest.  Renate also produces a “(Mostly) African-American Funeral Programs” online database, in which she publishes vital data extracted from funeral programs.

Renate is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the North Carolina Genealogical Society, the Afro American Genealogical and Historical Society (AAHGS), the Virtual Genealogical Association, and the Tyrrell County (NC) Genealogical and Historical Society. She is a BlackProGen LIVE panelist and is currently co-hosting a summer series of webinars called “Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy!” She has articles in genealogical newsletters and volunteers in a number of  activities in the genealogical community and is the Newsletter Editor for the Hampton Roads Chapter of AAHGS, a member of the AAHGS National Editorial Board, and a volunteer photographer for Find-A-Grave. She retired in July 2017 from a 32-year career as elementary educator.