About
Board Members
Tami McCandlish
Tami McCandlish founded The Triumph Organization in 2005 and has acted as
its president since. Tami’s idea for Triumph was sparked while she was
writing her first book, Flying Grounded, which is a research-backed memoir
about how Jesus Christ helped her overcome girl bullying. During the process
of developing and promoting her manuscript, Tami’s heart began to ache for
the many other girls and women who shared their own, similar stories of
victimization and aggression. It was then that Tami realized the extent of
the issue and incorporated Triumph as an educational tool to serve girls of
Central Ohio.
Since the publication of her book in the fall of 2007, Tami has spoken to
thousands of students and adults and has been featured on radio, television,
and in print. She graduated in 2004 from Ohio Wesleyan University with a
Bachelors degree in English and journalism.
In addition to her nonprofit and book responsibilities, Tami works as the
head fitness trainer for Elite Performance Enhancement Programs, LLC in
Columbus, Ohio. In 2008, she married her college sweetheart, Charlie, in
Sedona, Arizona. They currently reside in Dublin, Ohio. On a regular basis,
Tami loves to weight-lift, mountain bike, hike, boat, swim, read, write,
travel, and spend time with her family.
Robin McCandlish
Robin (Zarbaugh) McCandlish is the vice-president of The Triumph
Organization. Robin knows, first-hand, the damage caused by girl bullying.
Ten years ago, she watched helplessly as her daughter struggled with this
issue. The experience motivated Robin to start researching this behavior,
and in doing so, she found that psychologists had actually developed a
clinical name for the emotional and psychological pain that she and her
family had felt. Not only did this finding provide validity to Robin, it
also helped her realize that she had personally encountered relational
aggression in both her childhood and adulthood. Robin has learned that
education is the key to changing attitudes toward this destructive behavior.
She is dedicated to teaching others about all aspects of girl bullying.
Robin is a true Midwestern girl, having been born and raised in Central Ohio in
a tiny community called Lockville. She has been married to her husband, Doid,
for 32 years, and they have two daughters, Tami and Mattie. She feels as if
her role as a stay-at-home mom has been one of the most precious gifts that
God has blessed her with, and she would not change it for the world. She is
a member of Mills Memorial United Methodist Church in Lancaster, Ohio, where
she serves on the Pastor Parish Committee. Robin loves exercising, boating,
traveling, hiking, and spending as much time as possible with her family.
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Gay Yarnell
Gay Yarnell
is Triumph's secretary. Gay has always been focused on children, her own and others. In her current position as a librarian for Worthington City Schools, she interacts with hundreds of teenagers each week and serves as a compassionate mentor to many students. Gay has also been both a Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader and has operated a daycare facility. She is married with three, adult children and resides in the Columbus, Ohio area.
Gay is also a part-time personal fitness trainer for Elite Performance Enhancement Programs in Columbus, Ohio, where she takes a special interest in senior fitness and empowering young women through fitness. She also has a passion for staying healthy by actively participating in community-supported agriculture and volunteering for Wayward Seed Farm.
Gay has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas and has done graduate study in counseling at the University of North Texas and The Ohio State University. In addition, she has corporate experience as an administrative manager for Xerox Corporation.
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Mattie McCandlish
Mattie McCandlish serves as Triumph’s treasurer. Mattie is close to the issue of girl bullying not only because she has seen it impact her family, but because she, herself, has been targeted and hurt by it. Mattie found this most obvious when she entered college in 2005. As she built new relationships, watched long-time friendships fracture and fade, and dealt with difficult roommate personalities, Mattie quickly and clearly felt the burdens of relational aggression. It was then that she stepped up to join Triumph’s mission.
Mattie grew up near the small town of Bremen, Ohio and then moved west to attend Arizona State University, where she graduated in 2009. She holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies in Business & Tourism Development/Management. During college, Mattie participated in Campus for Christ.
While living in Arizona, Mattie also gained valuable experience in event planning and promotions. She not only worked for golf and hotel resorts but also as a marketing intern at Ticketmaster. There, she was involved with the promotion and administration of events such as McDowell Mountain Music Festival and Monster Jam. In addition, she was responsible for the operation of suites at games of the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, and Arizona Diamondbacks and at concerts and shows that included Hannah Montana, Pink, Dierks Bently, Kiss, and Phantom of the Opera.
Mattie now resides in Ohio and is employed by vSync, a Microsoft company, as a Web Marketing Specialist. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, exercising, and entertaining.
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Advisors
Juli Harper
Triumph looks to Juli Harper, and her 13 years of teaching experience, for valuable insight regarding relationships among girls and advice on working with faculty to implement programming about relational aggression.
In 1997, Juli started her teaching career in Ashland, Ohio at Crestview Middle School, where she was the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher. Then, in 2001, she became the Career Mentorship Coordinator at Thomas Worthington High School, where she also taught webpage design. While in Worthington, she completed the Leadership Worthington training program and, to this day, is still actively involved in the group though school outreach programs and Worthington Service Day. For seven years, she also served as a board member for Partners for Citizenship and Character.
Currently, Juli works for Olentangy Local Schools at Orange Middle School as the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher. Her focus is seventh grade Life Skills curriculum, which includes topics like food and nutrition, health and wellness, and career exploration.
As a teacher, Juli has helped schools and organizations seek funding through grant writing. In 2005, she was awarded the Meharry Medical College Service Grant, which allowed Worthington students to participate in service learning opportunities to promote seatbelt awareness campaigns, and, in 2007, the Worthington Education Foundation Grant, which went toward educating elementary students about internet safety. Juli also participated as an advisory member on the Richland County Board of Teen Pregnancy Prevention, where she raised money for and distributed grants to institutions needing funding for pregnancy prevention programming.
Juli holds a a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Ohio University (1997) and a Master's degree in Educational Technology from Ashland University (2005).
She currently lives in Westerville, Ohio with her two pugs and three cats.
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