Bruce and Jolene McCaw are co-chairs of the board of directors and principal benefactors for Talaris Institute, a Seattle-based organization dedicated to advancing knowledge of early learning and the importance of parenting by translating research on early childhood development into tools for parents. Inspired by their experiences as parents of three children, and the knowledge of tremendous gains in infant brain science and developmental research, the McCaws saw an opportunity to help parents with children 0-5, with trusted, research-based, easy-to-use parenting information.

The McCaws support organizations that focus on the healthy growth and development of children and the important role of families and other caring adults in children's lives through the Apex Foundation, their family charitable private foundation.

In addition, Bruce and Jolene donate their time through board memberships. Jolene is on the board of the Washington Early Learning Fund, a public private non-profit organization committed to early learning and education in the state of Washington. She has served on the Pacific Northwest Ballet Advisory Board and worked closely with Swedish Hospital Foundation on special projects. Bruce is a current board member and past chair for the Museum of Flight, a trustee of St. Thomas School, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, the Seattle Opera and the 10-99 Foundation. He is a past trustee of CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) and Lakeside School.

Bruce, along with his brothers, was a co-founder and director of McCaw Cellular Communications, which was acquired by AT&T in 1994. The son of pioneers in the broadcast industry, Bruce began his business career in radio and television and moved shortly thereafter to the field of aviation, forming his own aviation insurance company, which later became Forbes Westar. He was also responsible for co-founding Horizon Air, which became one of the nation's largest regional airlines prior to being sold to Alaska Airlines in 1986. Bruce also collects classic automobiles and racecars and, when time permits, competes in vintage racing events.

back to top

Chairman, Craig W. Stewart

Craig Stewart is president and a trustee of the Apex Foundation, a private family foundation of Jolene and Bruce McCaw with a focus on children, families and education. He currently serves on the board of the 10-99 Foundation.

After military service and stints with the US Government and Standard Oil of Ohio, Craig began development work at Lewis University in Lockport, Illinois, where he worked in the late sixties and early seventies. He has served as development director at Regis University in Denver, Colorado and Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut. He was director of development at Lakeside School from 1986 to 1996. He continues to advise a number of nonprofit institutions, particularly in the areas of governance, development planning and major gift fundraising.

A graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, he received his B.A. in political science, followed by an M.A. in ethnic studies from Governors State University in Illinois and an Ed.D. in higher education from Western Colorado.

Craig and his wife, Val, reside in Seattle and are the parents of two grown children.

back to top

Terry is Vice Chair of Talaris Institute, an operating foundation that promotes successful parenting through research-based information about raising socially and emotionally healthy children, birth to five. His experience includes leadership positions in non-profit organizations, foundations, and local government, working for both international and domestic causes. Terry helped establish the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 1998 to 2001. Besides overseeing the development of the Foundation's initial financial and administrative systems, he developed an initiative for international disaster relief and helped create a housing program to strengthen families in the Pacific Northwest. He served as Executive Vice President for the start up of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust in Arizona, a regional foundation dedicated to early childhood development, youth, the elderly and the arts. 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 also served as Director of Central Staff for the Seattle City Council and venture fund program officer for The Pew Charitable Trusts. He has lived and worked internationally as an educator in Australia, Europe and Nepal and as a trainer in Southeast Asia refugee camps. 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.

back to top

Kathleen Hebert recently left her position as a vice president and corporate officer for Microsoft Corporation. During her 14-year tenure at Microsoft, she played a key role in various product development and marketing efforts, including Microsoft Office. Most recently, she led Microsoft's newly formed Business Solutions division. A former associate at the Boston Consulting Group, she has worked on strategic planning and development in a number of industries internationally. Kathleen earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College and a masters in business administration from Stanford University.

As a recent mother of twin girls, Kathleen balances her time between her family and her interest in early learning. She is a partner with Social Venture Partners in Seattle, focusing on early childhood development and parenting.

back to top

Director, Roberta R. Katz

Roberta R. Katz is an executive officer and director of the Charles and Roberta Katz Family Foundation. She previously was one of the founders and the CEO of Flywheel Communications, Inc., a company specializing in the use of technology to manage rights-related transactions and dispute resolutions. Prior to joining Flywheel Communications, Inc., Ms. Katz was the President and CEO of the Technology Network (TechNet), a national bipartisan political network of technology industry executives. Ms. Katz had previously served for four years as the Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of Netscape Communications Corporation. Prior to her post at Netscape, she was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. (now AT&T Wireless) and its subsidiary, LIN Broadcasting Corporation. Ms. Katz was also a lawyer in private practice, specializing in corporate law. She was a partner with the firm of Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, resident in the firm's Seattle office.

Before becoming an attorney, Ms. Katz was a cultural anthropologist. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, where she specialized in issues of social and cultural change. As a result of her continuing interests in the effects of technological and social change, she conducted a study, under the auspices of the Discovery Institute, of the effects of the Information Age on the American civil justice system. The results of her study were published in 1997 in a book entitled Justice Matters: Rescuing the Legal System for the 21st Century.

Ms. Katz is a member of several Boards of Directors and several Advisory Boards. She was named one of "The Fifty Most Influential Women Lawyers in America" by the National Law Journal and one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in California" by the Daily Journal, and she has been a frequent public speaker on Internet law and policy issues, legal system issues, social change issues, and technology-workplace issues.

Ms. Katz received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University, law degree from University of Washington Law School, and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She is married and has two children.

back to top

For the past ten years, Mr. Nielsen has concentrated his activities in the field of public education. He traveled the country for two years studying America’s public education system and subsequently ran for and was elected to the Board of the Seattle Public Schools. He served on the board for eight years and was President of the Board in 2001. Mr. Nielsen’s goal has been and continues to be to help transform an urban school system in order to create a template to transform America’s schools.

Mr. Nielsen has also co-founded and provided the initial capital for TeachFirst, Inc., where he currently serves as the company’s chairman. The company films America’s greatest teachers in every grade and every subject and makes those teaching practices available to all teachers via the Internet. The company now serves 55 school districts in 24 states.

Mr. Nielsen currently serves as Director of Washington Services, Inc. and Mobility, Inc. (Flexcar). In his spare time he also serves on the Board of the Alliance for Education, IslandWood, KCTS Public Television and the National Eating Disorders Association. He is also active in the Young Presidents’ Organization Alumni.

He is a graduate of the University of Washington where he received a bachelor's degree in Business in 1960. In his senior year at the University of Washington he was elected student body president. In 1963, he received a master's in business administration degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

back to top

For over 20 years Chris Rogers has been helping organizations, business leaders and families clarify their key objectives, evaluate them against internal and external influences, and build adaptable strategic and tactical plans to achieve their aims. As Vice President-Financial Consultant at RBC Wealth Management, he provides comprehensive financial advisory and wealth management services to private clients, small businesses, and charitable foundations. Previous to RBC Chris served as Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Business Unit Manager, and a member of the Executive Committee for WRQ where he was recruited to lead the restructuring and repositioning of a strategic business unit for the privately-held enterprise software company.

Chris's interest in early learning and parent support began in a state of personal fear and wonder when he and Heidi welcomed their first child in 2000. Since that time, Chris has been a community volunteer working to bring the knowledge of science to the practice of parenting through his membership and a variety of advisory roles with Social Venture Partners and Thrive by Five of Washington, among other organizations. Chris received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Washington. His favorite and most valuable education is earned daily with his wife under the patient tutelage of their two young children.

back to top

As President Emeritus of Washington State University (WSU) and chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges Board of Directors for 2000, Sam brings to Talaris a world of experience and many contacts in the field of education.

Sam Smith has enjoyed a distinguished career in higher education, first on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, then at Pennsylvania State University. He served 15 years (July 1, 1985 - June 8, 2000) as president of WSU, the eighth leader of the institution in its 110-year history.


Under his leadership, WSU grew in size and stature. Its teaching, research, and public service activities received worldwide recognition. Strengthening undergraduate and graduate education, placing an international imprint on programs, and increasing opportunities for women and minorities were among his presidential priorities.

In the state of Washington, Sam is well known for establishing WSU branch campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities, and Vancouver to serve place-bound and job-bound students. Learning centers and award-winning Extended Degree Programs have further expanded access to WSU. More than one-third of all WSU graduates -- since the University's first commencement in 1897 -- had their academic degrees granted by him.

Under his leadership, Campaign WSU, the University's first comprehensive fund-raising effort, attracted $275.4 million in private support, substantially over its $250 million goal. The campaign transformed WSU's ability to serve students and the state of Washington by supporting scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, learning technology, and statewide education.

His recognition as a national leader in distance education is reflected by his service as a member of the Board of Trustees of Western Governor's University, of which WSU is a founding member.

In addition to chairing the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) Board of Directors, his leadership positions with the Association have included serving as chair of both the NASULGC Council of Presidents and its Commission on Information Technologies. NASULGC is the nation's oldest higher education association.

Sam also served on the Kellogg Commission on the Future of the State and Land-Grant Universities. Created by NASULGC, the commission planned for change and improvement of state universities and land-grant colleges for this century.

In 1998, he was honored at the NASULGC annual meeting as the Justin Smith Morrill Memorial lecturer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and NASULGC give the lectureship award once every three years. It honors outstanding contemporary leadership in teaching and significant contributions as an educator in promoting the land-grant tradition of the "liberal and practical education of all people."

Sam's background includes serving as chair of the Executive Committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He became active in the NCAA when he was elected as the Division I representative to the President's Commission. He later was elected chair of the commission and then was elected chair of the Executive Committee, the NCAA's newly formed primary governing body, and served in that capacity until completion of his term.

He has been honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District VIII with its Leadership Award for "qualities beyond leadership" that enabled WSU to "dramatically change course, chart a new vision, and exceed even its own expectations" in serving students.

Before his association with WSU, Dr. Smith served 16 years at Penn State, initially as a faculty member, then department head, and finally, Dean of the College of Agriculture and director of both the Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station.

A native of Salinas, California, he holds bachelor and doctoral degrees in plant pathology from the University of California at Berkeley and honorary doctoral degrees from Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan, and Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok, Russia.

back to top