Today we’d like to introduce you to Robyn Benincasa.
Hi Robyn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am the Founder and Minister of Dreams for a nonprofit foundation called Project Athena, the mission of Project Athena is to help women (and men— we just call them Zeus) who have had medical or traumatic setbacks turn those setbacks into major comebacks through adventure-based endurance events. Every year we choose a group of Survivors, to whom we give a fully paid grant to train for and complete an adventurous dream, and help them cross the finish line… TOGETHER as one big team. Our annual adventures include a 26-mile walking marathon in Sedona Az, a Grand Canyon 45-mile Rim to Rim to Rim Trek, The Zion Traverse, a 45-mile trek across the entire national park, and the Florida Keys to Recovery multisport adventure, in which we kayak and cycle from Key Largo to Key West. We’re funded primarily by our Gods and Goddesses, who are people who raise the money for the Survivors’ training and adventure and then do the adventure right alongside the Athenas and Zeuses every step of the way as one big family.
Project Athena is my volunteer passion project, as I was a world-class Adventure Racer who had won the biggest races on earth (The Eco-Challenge and Raid Gauoises) with my own team, and then discovered I had stage 4 osteoarthritis in both of my hips. I’ve now had 6 hip replacements, but after my first one, I decided to focus on what I could do instead of what I couldn’t do, which lead me to a whole new world of setting world and course records in the sport of ultra-distance paddling. I couldn’t walk for long periods of time during my surgical years, but I could get into a boat and kayak long silly periods of time. With the understanding of how much it helped me to have a new mission after my own setbacks, I wanted to share that awesome feeling of creating one’s own comeback story with other even more worthy survivors who just need a new perspective on who they are and what they’re capable of. It’s the best feeling in the world for our Athenas and Zeuses to leave their families for our adventures as the “sick/injured person” and come home as the family badass endurance athlete a few days later. It changes EVERYthing in their lives.
For more details on Project Athena or how you can be an Athena, Zeus, God, or Goddess, go to www.projectathena.org
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The big struggles for a nonprofit like Project Athena come from how and where to get funds for the mission, we’ve actually been pretty lucky, in that we create adventures that are truly badass but totally doable for anyone, without training plans. Yes, we’ve had funky bumps with learning how to run and sustain a nonprofit, but the mission is everything to us, and we always find a way or make one.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I’m not out setting courses for Project Athena or trying to keep this dream alive, I’m a full-time San Diego Firefighter with 23 years on the job, and I’m also an inspirational speaker who helps corporations, associations and user groups build World Class Teams and Adapt Overcome and Win as One through adventure-based keynotes and teambuilding adventures. My Adventure Racing teammates and I discovered that there are 8 Essential Elements that create true human synergy, where were better together than any individual could ever be alone, and they truly apply in every area of our lives. We were never the strongest athletes, but we consistently won races because we weren’t just out there WITH each other like the other teams, we were out there FOR each other. I never meant to be a speaker; It happened completely by accident. 🙂 When my team won the Raid Gauloises World Championship in Ecuador, Fast Company Magazine asked to interview us for an article they were writing, entitled Extreme Teamwork. Their idea with the story was to study some of the world’s most consistently high performing “Extreme Teams” from all walks of life (i.e., NASA, Industrial Light and Magic, Navy Seals, World Champion Adventure Racers) and see what they could learn from how we operate and apply it to fast-moving companies, The article was a hit, so they wanted some of the subjects from the story to come speak at an upcoming reader conference. I drew the short straw on my team. :). But I was incredibly lucky that day because a Zone VP from Starbucks was in the room, and after my presentation that day about The Essential Elements of Human Synergy, I suddenly found myself on a 13-city tour to talk to all of the Starbucks Store Managers in the western zone. And I’ve never looked back! So, I suppose what I truly specialize in is how we build and lead world-class teams who consistently create next-level results together. And it applies to every aspect of what I do, from running team-based Project Athena Adventures to sharing “8 essential leadership lessons from the toughest teams on earth” (my book!) with corporations, to doing my best to be a great member of my fire crew. The license plate even says “TMBLDER”. 🙂
Any big plans?
I’m going to keep growing Project Athena so we can help as many Survivors as possible live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery; continue to inspire people to reach their own huge hairy audacious goals and the goals for their own teams in every aspect of their life; and my future mission, when I’m retired from the fire department, is to build an animal sanctuary on land we’ve been buying in Sedona AZ over the last 10 years. I’ve always wanted to give neglected, older, or unadoptable animals a forever home, and I also want to train rescue dogs for agility sports. How much fun would that be? I guess it’s another way to turn setbacks into comebacks. 🙂
Pricing:
- 4,000.00 is the minimum fundraising total to come with us on a Project Athena Adventure as a God or Goddess. Survivors always come for free. 🙂 That minimum fundraising amount includes an online coach /training plan for 4 months, accommodations, food, and friends for a lifetime. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.projectathena.org and www.worldclassteams.com or www.robynbenincasa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projectathena_foundation/
- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/ProjectAthena
Image Credits
Tony Dizinno
