CEO / President
Dr. Tammy Yard-McCracken
To contract with Dr. McCracken for training and speaking engagements please email her directly at the above email address. Please note that she is often booked months in advance & we appreciate taking this in to consideration as you plan.
Tammy is founder & CEO of 500Rising, Inc. 500Rising evolved from her decades of experience in mental health and her experience as a self-defense instructor. Along side the team of Training Directors, she provides training to instructors across Europe and North America including direct education/training workshops for women & girls.
She is the owner & Global Solutions Director of Personal Defense Industries (PDI) and the founder of Kore Self-Defense & Krav Maga in Northern Virginia/DC Metro area. She now serves as Kore's program advisor & teaches in the general training classes & directs the instructor college training program. Additionally, she is a core member of the internationally recognized Violence Dynamics teaching team established by Rory Miller, is a certified Conflict Communication Instructor, Situational Awareness Specialist, Self-Defense Instructor, certified Krav Maga Instructor, & scenario development trainer/facilitator.
As a psychotherapist, she specialized in trauma recovery (acute & complex), and has worked with both perpetrators of violence and individuals recovering from the trauma of a violent encounter. She has additional specializations in transformational leadership & Train-the Trainer development.
Tammy earned an Expert Rank in Krav Maga in Israel through Krav Maga Global. Her original instructor certification was granted by Eyal Yanilov, Alan Predolin & Ilya Dunsky. She was the third woman to earn an expert rank with KMG in North America and becane the first fully certified female instructor on the east coast within the same organization. She has experience in a variety of martial arts & defensive tactics complimenting her Krav Maga background.
She has provided training and instruction for private companies, international safety and security organizations, and non-profit groups serving populations at high risk for violence. She also serves as a violence dynamics subject matter expert for a Washington DC area tactical training organization coauthoring and instructing a range of courses including Active Shooter Response Scenario Training. She has functioned as a role player for intensive Escape/Evasion training contracting with experts in the field and has testified in court as a designated expert in violence dynamics.
We stand on strong shoulders of women who have gone before us.
