Staff

Gary Shorb

Gary Shorb has served as Executive Director of The Urban Child Institute since February, 2017. He retired earlier that year from Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare where he served as CEO for 15 years, which he joined in 1990 as Executive Vice President. Before his tenure with Methodist, he served as president of the Regional Medical Center in Memphis for four years.

In addition to his work at The Institute, Gary also serves on the boards of Shelby Farms Park, the Soulsville Foundation, Crosstown High School, and The University of Memphis Foundation Board, Overton Park Conservancy, and Tennesseans for Early Childhood Education. He also serves on the board of the publicly traded Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA).

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Clemson University and a Master of Business Administration from Memphis State University (now The University of Memphis) and Honorary Doctorates form The University of Memphis and Memphis Theological Seminary.

Jean Phebus

Jean Phebus is the Chief Financial Officer for The Urban Child Institute. She joined UCI in 2005 after many years working in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Jean has served on several nonprofit boards and volunteers for various causes.

She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1992. She became a Certified Public Accountant in 1993.

Katy Spurlock

Katy Spurlock is the Deputy Director for The Urban Child Institute (UCI). She has a BA in English from Rhodes College, an MSSW from University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Social Work, and an MBA from University of Memphis.
Katy has been with UCI since 2005 and was employed by the Plough Foundation prior to that. She was a Project Director - of a research study to determine barriers to prenatal care -  with Prudential Center for Healthcare Research in the early years of TennCare.
She has served on several nonprofit boards including Literacy Midsouth, Community Alliance for the Homeless, Head Start policy council, and Midsouth Sober Living. She is also active in the Early Success Coalition, the Mayor's Youth Guidance Commission, Nurse Family Partnership Community Advisory Board, and Tennessee Achieves - a mentoring program for the Tennessee Promise scholarship initiative.

Katherine Bryan

Katherine Bryan is the Senior Program Officer for the Urban Child Institute (UCI). She has worked with UCI since 2009, first as a project coordinator through the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and later as a community program development and evaluation consultant.

Prior to her work with UCI, Katherine coordinated public health research projects including: Availability of Hepatitis B Vaccine for High-Risk Adolescents (University of Rochester), and The Evaluation of Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Programs Nationwide (Johns Hopkins University). A parent of three children with hearing loss, Katherine also worked as a regional parent coordinator for Colorado Families for Hands & Voices.

Katherine serves on the Memphis Delta Local Interagency Coordinating Council and is a member of the Early Success Coalition, the Nurturing Parenting Collaborative and the Shelby County Early Childhood Education Plan Steering Committee.  Katherine has a MSSW from the University of Tennessee and a BA in German from Rhodes College.

Donna Parchman

Donna Parchman serves as the Executive Assistant for the Urban Child Institute.  She previously retired from Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare where she was the Assistant to the CEO for many years.

She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi.