Marsha Talianoff comes to Casa Familia from her 17 year role as Executive Director of Major Gifts for the University of Miami’s School of Education and Human Development.  The school’s approach is distinctly holistic, rooted in the interconnectedness of psychological, physical, and intellectual dimensions of wellness in multicultural communities. A champion of the School’s vision-driven innovation, instructional programs, students’ scholarships, and faculty projects, Talianoff was recognized as a pillar by Dean Emeritus Isaac Prilleltensky, “creative, entrepreneurial, and completely devoted to the vision and mission of the school.”

Distinctive in her focus on relationship and community building, always grounded in the value of people and stewarding their potential to advance growth-driving initiatives, her efforts were integral in raising millions of dollars to support vital educational, research, and services initiatives as well as securing funding for a Chair in Community Well-Being and an endowment for the Community Well-Being Doctoral Program.

Talianoff is a Miami Beach native, known for her mark on Miami’s culinary renaissance in the 1990s. As founder and co-owner of Norman’s restaurant with Chef Norman Van Aken, she spearheaded investor relations and business development, and ultimately its international acclaim as Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Her efforts included corporate and charitable fundraisers and a seat on the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Marketing and Tourism Board.

She fell in love with food a two decades prior, learning technique alongside French Culinary greats the likes of Jacques Pepin, honing fine entertaining skills and stoking inspiration to launch a catering business Truffle Thyme out of her home kitchen. Prior to opening Norman’s, she co-founded the South Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food, and served as co-chairperson and program director, developing the chapter into one of the most successful in this national organization founded by Julia Child and Robert Mondavi in 1981.