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.

Katie Simons - General Manager
Robin Horrell - Program Specialist
Patsy Maltby - Executive Assistant
Perry D. Murrell, Sr. - Director of Operations
Edward Vernon - Bookkeeper
 
 

Katie Simons is the General Manager at Talaris Institute. As General Manager, Katie reports directly to the Board and directs all aspects of general operations, planning, research, product development, distribution and evaluation.

Katie has a BA in Psychology and Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a MPP in Public Policy from Harvard. Prior to joining Talaris, she was Director of Brewed Coffee for Starbucks, where she had innovation and P&L responsibility for the brewed coffee business. Previously, she was a Project Leader for Boston Consulting Group, providing strategic management consulting to companies in a variety of industries. Katie was also an Account Director for Avenue A and a Fulbright scholar in Gabon, Africa.

Katie’s husband, Steve Carter, is a family practice physician. Katie and Steve have a vivacious 2 year old daughter named Ella.
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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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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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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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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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