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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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Perry D. Murrell, Sr. - Director of Operations |
 Perry is
Director of Operations and as such is responsible for all the day to day
activities of the institute along with any special projects as assigned by
the director. He has a broad background in both the private and public
sectors with positions that range from being the youngest ever computer
technician hired by RCA, an advisor to the Vietnamese Army in Vietnam,
leadership positions in several community based organizations, member of a
special visit delegation to Israel and ten years as Chairperson of the
Akron Planning Commission. Perry is retired from Avaya where he spent
twenty five years working in the former Bell System. His hobbies include
wood-working, astrometry, reading, writing and singing in his church men’s
choir.
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Robin Horrell- Program Specialist |
 Robin
develops and manages community and national partnerships. She came to
Talaris in 2006 after working for 11 years within state child welfare
systems. She took calls from concerned citizens about suspected child
abuse/neglect, assessed child development and well-being, and created
support systems for struggling families. She worked closely with
biological, foster, adoptive and kinship families from diverse cultures,
and networked extensively with a wide variety of community agencies. Robin
brings to Talaris strong organizational, networking and
relationship-building skills as well as a valuable point of view about
what families and communities need in order to optimize the developmental
outcomes for young children.
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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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Edward Vernon - Bookkeeper |
 Ed
comes to us with a sound background in all phases of small business
accounting relating to both the for-profit and non-profit areas. He has
worked with such varied clients as the Sound Circle Center, a non-profit
organization whose primary activity is supporting Waldorf Schools in the
Puget Sound region; the University Congregational United Church of Christ;
EarthCorps, a non-profit organization founded in 1993 dedicated to
building global community through local environmental restoration service;
and Relta Gray Associates, a public relations firm. In his spare time Ed
likes to read, relax, and watch a good movie.
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