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The professionals that make up the Talaris staff come
from a variety of disciplines. By combining experts in the fields of parenting,
childcare, education, business development, healthcare, marketing, and
communications, we are building a team that understands and represents
the world we are trying to reach. We invite you to meet our team through
the summary bios below.
Terrence R. Meersman - Vice Chair, Talaris
Mark W. Crawford - CEO
Perry D. Murrell, Sr. - Director of Operations
Robin Horrell - Program Specialist
Patsy Maltby - Executive Assistant
Edward Vernon - Bookkeeper
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Terrence R. Meersman - Vice Chair, Talaris |
 As
Vice Chair of Talaris Institute, Terry serves on the Board and works
full-time to extend Talaris’s influence to other organizations and
leaders. The principles of social and emotional development of young
children, reaching all parents, and moving knowledge into action have
never been so relevant and timely. Working with other foundations,
non-profits, and public and private sector leaders, Terry encourages other
institutions in our society to adopt these principles in their own work
and to join with partners like Talaris to spread the message. Terry served
as Executive Director of Talaris from 2003 through 2007, as Talaris
developed partnerships like Thrive by Five Washington and created
innovative materials to support families and parents in raising their
children. His past experience includes starting up the Virginia G. Piper
Charitable Trust in Arizona, a regional foundation dedicated to early
childhood development, youth, the elderly and the arts. He helped
establish the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 1998 to 2001,
creating initial administrative systems and developing initiatives for
international disaster relief and homeless families in the Northwest.
Terry has been involved with Save the Children for almost two decades,
initially as its director of refugee programs, later as executive vice
president/COO, and recently on its Board of Directors. He has lived and
worked internationally as an educator in Australia, Europe, and Asia.
Terry holds a master's in business from the Yale University School of
Organization and Management and master's degree in humanities from the
University of Chicago.
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 Mark
Crawford joined Talaris Institute in 2007 as Interim CEO. Mark oversees
the on-going operations of Talaris Institute and is working to develop and
distribute the new Parenting Counts line of educational materials. Before
coming to Talaris Institute, Mark served as the Executive Director of the
Seattle based Committee for Children. He has also held executive
leadership positions in various arts organizations and spent ten years in
the corporate sector. Mark is married to Megan and they have two teenage,
soccer obsessed sons – Cordes and Calvin.
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Robin Horrell- Program Specialist |
 Robin uses her skills and knowledge at Talaris to assist the Director of
Programs with managing community and national partnerships. She came to
her position as Program Specialist after 11 years of exposure to the
multitude of issues facing children involved with state child welfare
systems. She spent the bulk of this time working for the State of
Washington, where she interviewed concerned citizens about suspected child
abuse/neglect and assessed children’s safety, development and well-being.
She interacted extensively with foster and adoptive homes and kinship
caregivers. She worked with families from diverse cultures, parents of
varying ages and lifestyles, and predominantly children ages 0 - 5.
Through this work Robin achieved a varied repertoire of knowledge about
children’s social/emotional, cognitive, and physical development. She also
gained an acute sensitivity to the heart-breaking circumstances that can
lead to abuse or neglect and an appreciation for the limits of state
systems to effectively address the multitude of complex and often
long-term needs of families deemed at risk.
Robin received her Master of Social Work Degree from Portland State
University in June 1999. She is a native North-westerner who enjoys
outdoor recreation, gardening, and home remodeling, as well as the
periodic ATV expedition with her partner during the rainy season(s).
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Patsy Maltby - Executive Assistant |
 With
more than 20 years of experience in marketing and customer service and an
ability to manage multiple projects with ease, Patsy Maltby is a welcome
addition to the Talaris Team. Most recently, Patsy worked as an executive
assistant at Emerald Pharmaceuticals, where she provided administrative
support to the company president, managed human resources, coordinated
company tradeshows and assisted with media, graphic design, and web site
maintenance. The mother of two young sons, Patsy and her family enjoy
camping, sports, movies and spending time with family and friends.
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