Colin Stroumpis, Founder & President
Colin Stroumpis is the founder and President of Strive for Girls. She resides in Johns Creek, Georgia with her husband Chris and two sons, Nicholas and Grayson. Colin grew up playing sports and being pushed athletically by her two older brothers the entire time. She played softball and basketball in leagues as soon as she was old enough to participate and continued playing through high school. She picked up tennis in her teenage years and went on to play at the collegiate level at Berry College which was an NAIA school at the time. Her first love was basketball but tennis was where she was able to get school paid for in full along with an academic scholarship so that was the way she went. Colin completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Berry and went on to obtain her Masters of Business Administration from Kennesaw State University and then also obtained her CPA license. She currently owns and manages along with her husband an accounting back office support company which has successfully allowed her to work from home and balance family and career. Colin satisfies her love of sports and continues to reap the benefits of them by continuing to play in tennis leagues and has been in the Crossfit world since 2010.
As Colin has coached and watched her boys in various sports programs over the last 12 years, she has observed that female participation is a bit low in general and hence the opportunities for exposure to sports and training are also limited for girls or there are only coed options. Colin has a passion for children, sports and coaching and has volunteered in many capacities to feed that passion but has always desired to do more. With that combination of recognizing the need for training just for girls and Colin’s passion for children and sports came the creation of Strive for Girls. The benefits of sports in Colin’s life have been many. The usual things mentioned like learning work ethic, leadership, teamwork, physical strength and health and the experiences of devastating failure and sweet success and the life lessons that result in those have all been part of who she is today. But, most importantly it gave her focus during pivotal years of her life, a community at each stage of life, and confidence and belief in herself that she could pursue goals and not allow the fear of failure to hold her back. That confidence, empowerment, and sense of community that we can all find through sports is the goal and mission of Strive for Girls. And we want ALL girls and as many as we can reach so Strive for Girls is created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Colin on the Strive for Girls Team:
Along my journey I have been lucky enough to meet these four strong, successful, independent, brave and talented ladies and I am very proud to have them as part of the Strive for Girls leadership team. Each one of them jumped at the opportunity to be involved with this organization and have their own set of unique experiences and gifts to bring to these young girls.
Jennine Vann, Board Member & Director of Fundraising
Jennine Vann resides in Alpharetta, GA with her husband Tom and her two sons, Hunter and Noah. For years she played many sports including soccer, softball, basketball and volleyball. Not only did she love to play, she loved to watch. Luckily her boys are sports lovers too and she spends a majority of her weekends watching them compete. She grew up in Syracuse, NY and is an avid Syracuse Orange fan. To spread her wings, she attended college at Towson University in Maryland, where she received a BS in Psychology. Her original plan was to be a marriage counselor but she decided quickly after graduation that using Psychology in business might be of more interest to her.
Some of her best memories in life revolve around sports. For example, when her St. Rose team in NY won the Onondaga Parochial championship game while she was in the 8th grade. Or when she pitched nine strikes in a row to end an inning for the win in various softball games. It was always fun to come in and close the game out for her teams. She’s always loved the challenge and the competition. In her 20’s, she went from organized sports to running and still runs today. It’s not so much of a competition vs. others now but a constant competition with her-self. Her goal is to be stronger as a runner regardless of her age and the obstacles in life.
She’s a Business Development Director for an engagement company known as BI Worldwide. She’s been with BI Worldwide for over 12 years now and sales in general for over 25+ years. Her career started at AT&T right out of school, onto climbing the ladder at Xerox to a Director of sales at OfficeMax in NYC, covering Manhattan, NJ & Long Island. She moved to Atlanta in 2007 where she began her career at BI Worldwide. At BI she helps companies strategize on how to engage and inspire their employees to reach their goals. The goal is to get them to do the things they need them to do to be successful. Much of it is based on Behavioral Economics. The studies of why people do what they do. We put in place the right communication strategy, design, rewards and measurement for our clients for a recipe for success. Inspired employees work harder, goal set and reach their goals.
She says: “The climb is real and the obstacles exist and I don’t believe without my experience in sports I would have been as successful in my sales career. You have to be self-driven, confident and be fearless against your competition. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have girls of my own but am looking forward to the opportunity to coach, mentor and inspire your girls to reach their ultimate best in sports and as women of strength and character. Sports can and will help build self-esteem, drive and leadership. Skills they will use over their lifetime as I have and so many other women.”
Kate T. Parker, Board Member & Director of Soccer Development
A mother, wife, Ironman, professional photographer and New York Times Bestselling author who shoots both personal projects and commercial work for her clients. Her STRONG IS THE NEW PRETTY photo series led to collaborations with brands such as Disney, Athleta, Kellogg’s, and NBC. It has also inspired Kate to launch a philanthropic arm of SITNP, partnering with organizations such as Girls on the Run, Girl Up, The Arthur Blank Family Foundation, Disney, Glam4Good, and The Bully Project by investing in children’s health and education. Kate is also the author of Strong is the New Pretty: The Guided Journal, The Heart of a Boy and Play Like A Girl.
Strong is the New Pretty was included in The Best Books of 2017 (Amazon), Books of the Year and Pick of the Day, (A Mighty Girl), Feminist Kids Books for Dismantling the Patriarchy (NY Mag), “Heather’s Picks” Chapters/Indigo (Canada).
A partial list of her clients include Disney, REI, NBC, Girl Scouts of the USA, Athleta, American Express, Merck, Girls on the Run, AT&T, Kroger, IHG Group, Spanx, Nexcare, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Lululemon, Walgreens, GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen, Kelloggs’, Verizon, NFL, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Oxygen, Holiday Inn, Cigna, and Progressive Insurance.
Kate is excited to join the Strive for Girls’ leadership team and will play an integral role in developing the Strive Soccer program. Kate played soccer through college at Wake Forest University. She believes her experiences with the sport have played a huge and positive role in her career and who she is today. She is looking forward to bringing the sport to more young girls and empowering them to establish, work for, and reach their goals on and off the field.
Carla McGee, Board Member & Director of Basketball Training
Carla McGhee played for the legendary Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee and was a two time National Champion. Shortly after her first Championship win, Carla was in a car accident that broke nearly every bone in her body. Doctors told her that she would never play ball again. But her winning sprit broke through, And she went on to not only play, but she achieved numerous accolades.
Coach “C,” an Olympic Gold Medalist and Basketball Hall of Famer, not only knows what it takes to become a WINNER, but also knows what it takes to build a winning program. Coach C. is an impressively accomplished player for the WNBA, ABL and FIBA(Overseas).
In addition, this former NCAA University of Tennessee standout, under has over 10 years of Division I coaching and recruiting experience. Combined with her dedication to hard work, Coach “C” utilizes her vast experience to motivate, mentor and ultimately develop talented players.
Carla is a dedicated mom, loyal friend, lovable sibling, Lady Vol Hall Of Fame, '96 Olympic Gold Medalist, WNBA Legend, motivational speaker & an amazing Delta!
Allie Svabik, Board Member & Director of Marketing
Allie Svabik is honored to help her friend and neighbor, Colin, launch and grow Strive for Girls. She lives in Johns Creek, GA with her best friend, roomie, and mom - Cheryl. They both love being close to the third member of their trio, her younger brother - Jack. Allie was a tomboy growing up and loved having her younger brother to play catch with, and “boss” around through other athletic activities. Then, it was baseball, soccer, hockey and hoops. Now, it is tennis, golf, volleyball, and softball.
While she loves playing all sports - Allie’s first love was basketball, playing in church leagues, on AAU travel teams, and eventually making the high school varsity team. Allie also dreamt of starting volleyball in high school, just like her mom, so she joined a travel club volleyball team with the hopes to be a two-sport varsity athlete. That club experience not only helped her make the state-championship volleyball team in high school, but it also helped her believe that it was possible to play volleyball in college too. While she would have loved to continue playing both, and even add in a spring sport to the mix, the competitiveness of specializing in a year-round sport at the time forced her to choose volleyball and never look back. To this day, the best team she’s been on was the 2006 Marist School - Atlanta, GA AAAA Volleyball State Championship squad.
Allie went on to attend Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY on athletic and academic scholarships, competing in the Division I Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, studying around the world, and graduating Magna Cum Laude as a dual major in Business Marketing and Sports Communications.
After university, Allie moved back to Atlanta to be with her family. She spent ten years working for digital media start-ups in Atlanta, assuming various roles and specializing in video production, marketing and sales. She’s grateful for the skills she acquired in those entrepreneurial, technology-driven environments and has transferred those to her true passion - the tennis industry. Allie picked up tennis shortly after graduating to fill the competitive sporting spirit and has loved playing and improving in adult recreational leagues around town. She’s also a huge fan of the professional tours. Both playing and watching inspired her to create her own tennis venture - TENNIS LADY - which is a new women’s league in Atlanta and sells craft fan gear around the world. Allie is also proud to serve as the head of marketing and events for locally owned and operated - Your Serve Tennis - which has nine retail locations in the metro area.
Allie and her family are parishioners at St. Brigid Catholic Church. She feels so blessed to have the educational opportunities that not only gave access but also encouraged girls to be athletic. In fact, almost every single one of her peers was involved in a sport throughout high school. She would love nothing more than to help make that possible for others in the community.