About Us

Video: Our Mission and Story

Talaris was founded in 2000, with the mission of supporting parents and caregivers in raising socially and emotionally healthy children. In this video, you’ll hear parents and leaders of Talaris and other organizations explain how our work helps parents succeed in this most important of roles.

Our mission

To support parents and caregivers in raising socially and emotionally healthy children

The facts

The skills needed for success in adulthood are built on a foundation of social, emotional, and cognitive skills acquired in the early years. Child development and brain research have produced compelling evidence that relationships and experiences in the first five years of a child’s life shape development in significant ways. With over 21 million children in the United States under the age of five, the focus on the early years is essential. From an economic perspective, investing in positive social, emotional, and educational environments in the early years of a child’s life will not only benefit families, but will provide a meaningful return on investment for society. Economists have estimated for every $1 invested on high-quality home- and center-based support, society reaps at least $3 and as much as $16 in benefits.

Our opportunity

There are few times that rival the growth and development of a child from birth to five. Research has shown that parenting a child during the early years is the dominant influence in all relationships and lifelong learning. And yet many parents are unaware of the importance of their role. That’s the reason for Talaris Institute.

The need

Today, more than ever before, parents have easy access to information on the web, on TV, on the radio, and in print. How do they know what they can trust? All parents want to do what’s right for their children, but they struggle to find trusted advice that is not overwhelming. Parents are often under stress and have little time to spare. And yet they are searching for tips to make them better parents – tips that are essential to raising a child who will learn well and relate to others successfully and tips that are in line with the realities of parenting in the 21st century. That’s where Talaris comes in. We provide research-based products and information that quickly and accurately reinforce a parent’s confidence, correct misconceptions, and remind parents of how to interact positively with their children—not just once, but frequently during everyday moments.

Our goal is for parents and caregivers to understand that:

Learning begins at birth.
The foundation for lifelong learning and relationships rests on the social and emotional development from birth to five.
The parent-child relationship is the most essential factor in a child’s healthy development.

Our product line

We believe that our product line is an important element of sustaining and expanding our work in the future. Parenting Counts is our family of products and source of trusted information for parents, caregivers and early learning professionals. Our parenting tools are geared for busy parents who deal with daily stress and have little time to spare. From parenting kits to one-minute TV spots, our goal is to improve parent-child interactions. With fun-to-watch DVD’s and easy-to-read booklets, we use everyday parenting moments to suggest meaningful ways for parents and caregivers to connect, communicate and interact with their children. To learn more about Parenting Counts, please visit ParentingCounts.org.

Our home, our team, our beliefs

Located in Seattle, Washington, Talaris has attracted an committed team of individuals, each of whom brings a powerful and unique set of skills. Lead by Katie Simons, Executive Director for Talaris, this team is inspired to make a difference in the lives of parents and children by helping to improve parent-child relationships. We believe it all begins with providing parents, caregivers, and parenting professionals with information they can trust, understand, and use in their daily interaction with children.

Talaris