Judy Marine – Chairperson
Judy Marine received a BA degree in English from Agnes Scott College and her MEd in The Teaching of Reading from Emory University. She obtained certification in Educationally Handicapped/Learning Disabilities from the University of Denver, and certification in Leadership/Administration from Georgia State University. She has taught in both the public school and the independent school sectors.
In 2000, Judy retired from The Westminster Schools in Atlanta where she served as reading specialist and principal of the Elementary School Division. She has served on the Boards of several organizations, including the Board of Agnes Scott College and Children’s Literature for Children (CLC). She continues to serve the Atlanta community in a variety of roles, including as an educator by providing tutorial services to elementary and middle school students.
Katie Davis – Executive Director and Member
Katie received her Master of Education (MEd) in Community Counseling from Georgia State University in 1979 and holds the license in professional counseling (LPC) in Georgia. She has worked as a counselor and trainer in a variety of settings, including residential adult psychiatry, private counseling, prison, and community mental health.
The Reverend W. Burney Overton, the creator of Relational CommunicationTM, introduced Katie to the program in 1979, and she learned from him for the next nineteen years. Katie worked with Burney as an Associate Counselor at STACS (Shallowford Training and Counseling Service) and taught Relational CommunicationTM during that time. Burney generally taught Relational CommunicationTM in weekend retreats, of which Katie attended many. He also used Relational CommunicationTM skills in his pastoral counseling and his personal life, both of which offered her further exposure to Relational CommunicationTM, the creative power of effective communication, and the theology of the unconditional love of God. Through her use of the concepts, principles, and processes of Relational CommunicationTM, and by teaching these to others, Katie will continue to learn from Burney throughout her life.
Returning to graduate school in 1998, Katie received her Master of Theological Studies (MTS) degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in May 2001. In May 2018 she was conferred the PhD in Learning, Leadership, and Organization Development from the University of Georgia. Her career interests include supporting theologies that promote mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, and processes for building healthy groups, organizations, congregations, and communities. In order to create a forum for continuing the practical theology practices initiated in her work with Burney, Katie founded The Overton Institute on June 13, 2003 – five years after Burney’s death, on what would have been his 87th birthday. The Overton Institute will carry forward the mission of Burney’s work: to serve God by serving others through affirmation, education and proclamation, teaching and applying the principles of Relational CommunicationTM and the theology of the unconditional love of God.
Aiden Downey – Member
Aiden Downey lectures in the Intercultural Conflict Management Program at Alice Solomon University in Berlin Germany and is associated faculty at Emory University. He earned his Masters in Urban Education and Doctorate in Education, Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. He served as director of undergraduate studies at the Division of Educational Studies from 2009-2015. Aiden’s research and writing focus on community-engaged pedagogy, urban education and the narrative nature of experience, knowledge and identity. Along with Jean Clandinin and Lee Schaefer, he is the author of Narrative Conceptions of Knowledge: Towards Understanding Teacher Attrition. Formerly a teacher at an inner-city high school for dropouts, pharmacist and Marine veteran of the First Gulf War, Aiden co-founded The Workshop School, an innovative project-based public high school in Philadelphia that teaches inner-city youth to change the world.
Matthew G. Orndorff – Member
Matthew Orndorff received his Bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Human Services from University of Illinois. Matthew is the Associate Director of Membership for Alabama Public Radio a Service of the University of Alabama. Prior to his time at APR, he worked as a Project Manager for a comprehensive Behavioral Health and Research Organization for 19 years. Matt is an accomplished trainer and has worked extensively with with individuals, organizations, Native American Sovereign Tribal Nations, states, federal agencies, and provincial systems throughout the US and Canada seeking to implement evidence based assessment. Matthew currently resides in Tuscaloosa Alabama.
Georgann Byerley – Honorary Member
Tom Byerley – Honorary Member
Miriam Overton – Honorary Member
Judy O. Stansberry – Honorary Member