Guest blog by Plume: Interview with Jasna Mihelj Coustaury, GM European Operations for Plume
The #PlumeStrong Cycling challenge – #PSCC24 – is one month away. The race begins on 2 September in Zurich, Switzerland and many mountains later will end on 6 September in Venice, Italy. Your fearless publisher will be attempting to make it through the first stage of this ride to benefit #PlumeStrong. Below read more about the race and Jasna Mihelj Coustaury, the driving force behind Plume’s CSR efforts. Here’s our interview with Jasna, GM of European Operations at Plume and one of #PSCC24’s chief organisers.
How did #PlumeStrong begin?
Jasna: We started #PlumeStrong in 2020 as an initiative to encourage Plume’s employees to stay mentally and physically healthy during the pandemic as everyone was isolated. We wanted to help by instilling a sense of community among the Plume team and inspiring our people to be active.
Plume’s CEO Fahri Diner encouraged employees to join in on activities. Many team members got on Strava to track bike rides and runs and to motivate each other. It was a big success.
So, we decided to expand #PlumeStrong to benefit more people, and we evolved #PlumeStrong into a fundraising CSR program. We held our first big event in 2021 and called it the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge. We were thrilled to raise more than $80,000 in the process, and in 2023 we raised over €550,000 to build a school in the Adiyaman region of Turkey.
Now we’re gearing up for the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge 2024!
Tell me more about the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge
Jasna: Community, cycling and #PlumeStrong are near and dear to our hearts at Plume. Our annual bike event, the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge, takes place this year Sept. 2-6. This epic event will start in Zurich, Switzerland, and take riders through the Alps and Dolomites to Venice, Italy. Superstar cyclist Tadej Pogačar, who is fresh off winning the Tour de France for the third time and recently won the Giro d’Italia, is a #PSCC Ambassador and will join the first leg of the race.
If you follow cycling at all, you already know that Tadej is a cycling phenomenon. But what you may not know is that he is also a philanthropist in his own right. And he’s an inspiration to us all! In addition to Tadej, we have an incredible team of Ambassadors involved in the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge this year including Urska Zigart, Scott Ogden, Marko Baloh and members of BTC City Ljubljana Zhiraf Ambedo Women’s Cycling Club.
#PlumeStrong is a huge undertaking. How did this impact your role within Plume?
Jasna: We’re excited that #PlumeStrong and the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge continue to grow bigger and bigger. This year, the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge aims to raise €1,000,000.
#PlumeStrong requires a great deal of time and commitment. There’s a lot of work involved, and I feel committed and responsible not only for our company and our employees but also for the generous partners who are participating in #PlumeStrong. Our partners trust us and are supporting the initiative with their donations. We are so grateful for their support, which helps to fund #PlumeStrong projects around the world.
Who are the beneficiaries of the funds gathered?
Jasna: We have supported multiple charities and causes since #PlumeStrong began, and we recently announced that we will be working with Street Child again for the third year in a row.
This year, the collaboration focuses on an ambitious new project to develop 15 rural secondary schools in Sierra Leone, providing quality education to over 1,500 children each year, as well as teacher training and establishing a community agriculture project to help sustain the school.
Additionally, this year in October, we are hosting our first-ever fundraising gala event In California to benefit the Ron Brown Scholar Fund, a long-time partner of Plume and a phenomenal program that administers the Ron Brown Scholar Program (RBSP). Plume will support the establishment of the Ron Brown Venture Lab, an initiative to empower Black founders within the RBSP network.
This project with the team at Ron Brown appealed to us because innovation and entrepreneurship are core to Plume’s approach. We believe in allowing anyone – no matter where they are from – with an idea to find support and be granted the opportunity to create meaningful change. Doing this with one of our partners is a perfect fit.
How can people sponsor #PlumeStrong?
Jasna: Anyone can donate by sponsoring one of our riders, becoming a partner or giving directly through the donate button on the #PSCC24 landing page.
We also have corporate sponsors, who are amazing. Liberty Global is a Diamond partner for the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge 2024. They share our passion for cycling, and they are highly skilled at and committed to charity fundraising.
We have built a strong community of partners who are working with us to change the world for the better by helping children to be educated. This partner group also includes Gold partners for #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge 2024: Greenberg Traurig, Skipstone and INNOVO. Additionally, BN, Bospar, Cognitive Systems Corp., Edward Wolfe, GoGlobal, Oskar, Polka Dot Cycling, Skyworth, Spectrum and Transcom have signed on as #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge 2024 partners. Event suppliers include Nduranz, Compex and Jana, and our media partner is Nasdaq.
Our incredible Plume employees, who take part in #PlumeStrong events throughout the year and raise money through team events and on their own, also continue to work tirelessly and demonstrate their unflagging commitment to improving people’s experiences around the world.
At Wi-Fi NOW we’re delighted to be a (small) sponsor of #PSCC24. After the race I will report faithfully from my experiences on Stage 1. Make sure you donate on the #PSCC24 landing page here.
/Claus.
