Talbot Mentors has welcomed Diana Trams as its new Executive Director. The organization matches children in need of an additional adult friend in their lives with volunteers from throughout the community.

Trams comes to Talbot Mentors from For All Seasons, Inc., Mental Health Clinic. As a therapist with that organization for seven years, she provided individual and family therapy, and services to schools for kids with mental health needs.

The Maine native came to Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1995. Trams earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work degree from Salisbury University and her Master of Education in guidance and counseling from the University ofMaryland Eastern Shore. She has lived in Talbot County since 1998.

A member of the National Alliance of Black School Educators, Trams was previously a basketball coach at Cambridge South Dorchester High School. She is a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in East New Market.

Trams said that she has been informally mentoring along with her husband for about ten years. Growing up as an athlete in a small community, she appreciated the mentoring she received from her coaches, which led her to working with kids.

“Identifying children’s strengths encourages them to grow,” she noted. “It’s important for kids to have someone who is an advocate for them.”

She also stressed the importance of the experience for the mentors themselves. Ongoing support for both mentors and kids is one of the hallmarks of the Talbot Mentors program, building more successful relationships.

Trams’ hiring follows the departure of Nancy Andrew, who served as Executive Director for the past eight years and recently left to join Shore Health System. Acknowledging the many different aspects of the position, Trams said that it requires a multi-faceted person and she is looking forward to the challenge.

Thanking Andrew for her service, Board President Dr. George Gilfillan noted, “Nancy was extraordinarily talented and her leaving was a concern.

“However,” he added, “this transition is good for the organization. It brings out the strength of the board and makes it take stock of where we are and where we want to be.”

Gilfillan thanked the Search Committee for its careful consideration of more than 50 applicants for the position. The committee consisted of board members Peter Howell, Blenda Armistead and Don Cook, along with Gilfillan and former board member George Merrill.

Gilfillan applauded the choice of Trams and expressed his enthusiasm about the future of the organization under her leadership. “Diana is a consensus builder and has the skills needed to move the organization forward, along with an upbeat personality that will be an asset to us,” he said. “She is a good match for Talbot Mentors.”

With the organization currently serving more than 60 children in the community, Gilfillan said that the board’s intent is to increase that number to 100 with careful recruitment of new mentors. In welcoming Trams to this challenge, he said, “I am confident that she will be up to doing the job.”

For more information, to make a contribution, or to volunteer as a mentor, call Talbot Mentors at 410-770-5999 or visit www.talbotmentors.org.