Rose Pleskow Holds a Significant Position with Particular Olympics Accomplice Brightspot

Rose Pleskow assaults life with the utmost drive and objective. In 2011 on the Particular Olympics World Video games in Athens, Greece, Pleskow received the bronze medal within the 1500-meter race in athletics. However when Pleskow will not be swimming within the Potomac River alongside her mother or working on the monitor, she could be discovered inside the partitions of Brightspot—a software program improvement firm simply outdoors the nation’s capital in Reston, Virginia.

“The chance got here by way of a program I did with my highschool and after I was in the course of the internship a paid job grew to become accessible,” the South Lakes Excessive Faculty graduate says about her place at Brightspot, which she has held for 11 years.

The longtime Particular Olympics Virginia athlete feels at house working for Brightspot. For years, the software program improvement firm has been companions with Particular Olympics. Through the years, they’ve developed a number of web sites, together with two vital redesigns of the Particular Olympics web site, and have been the lead creator of templates for all 220 Packages across the globe.

“It means a lot as a result of they’re very supportive of the incapacity neighborhood and so they even have a really particular partnership with Particular Olympics,” Pleskow says. “My firm desires to be part of the Particular Olympics neighborhood and I’m very grateful for my coworkers and my supervisor who’s very supportive.”

Parker Ramsdell, Brightspot’s Senior Vice President of Folks, Mission and Tradition, has labored with Pleskow for over a decade. “I’ve all the time joked that Rose is my boss as a result of she retains me in line and retains me on the proper place on the proper time,” Ramsdell says. He talks with loads of pleasure about the place Pleskow’s desk is situated and the way that was finished on objective. “It’s on the busiest a part of the workplace,” Ramsdell says about her desk. “She brightens everybody’s day, it’s such a pleasure to see Rose within the office. She all the time brings nice power, a terrific smile, kindness, and compassion for her colleagues.”

When Pleskow is on the clock she begins her day together with her espresso within the workplace. It’s a easy however essential activity that will get her day began. Glancing at her calendar, she’s going to create a plan to prioritize the duties from most essential to least essential. It ensures that she makes probably the most out of her hours of labor. Her duties could be in depth, resembling when she’s aiding Brightspot with the online design for Special Olympics USA’s website. Pleskow additionally stays on high of the web site to ensure issues are working easily. If one thing is mistaken, she’ll write up a ticket and ship it to the developer to resolve the difficulty. “I do content material publishing which is after I get info, I publish photos and knowledge earlier than it goes stay,” Pleskow says.

Along with her net improvement duties, Pleskow frequently conducts interviews together with her colleagues. On the Record with Rose highlights the individuals who make up the crew at Brightspot. A Q&A mode interview, Pleskow will get to know every individual, asking issues like how lengthy they’ve been with the corporate and what introduced them to the place they maintain.

Each March, Pleskow leads Brightspot’s activation for the Spread the Word campaign, a worldwide initiative working to unfold inclusion for all folks with mental and developmental disabilities. Previous to the day, she’s going to ship an electronic mail out to her coworkers and share a narrative across the “R” phrase. She then encourages everybody to signal the banner.

“It’s actually essential to me as a result of I’ve a incapacity and I need my coworkers to incorporate folks outdoors the work setting and contained in the work setting,” Pleskow says. She actually desires her colleagues to behave in the neighborhood in the event that they see somebody not being inclusive, so that’s the reason she encourages them to take the pledge.

Pleskow is aware of how essential it’s for Particular Olympics athletes to have significant employment. She is fortunate sufficient to be at an organization that values its staff and enhances the partnership it has with the mental incapacity neighborhood. And he or she desires others to have the identical alternative. She says to different athletes, “At all times be on time, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and all the time strive your finest.”

“I hope it sends a strong message,” Ramsdell says in regards to the affect they’re making. “After I take a look at any mission I put Rose on, I all the time understand how good the standard goes to be.” He mentions the way it demonstrates and showcases the facility of Pleskow’s employment.

For years, Pleskow has led by instance on the monitor and within the pool. The management abilities she discovered on the sphere of play have adopted her to the office the place she strives for perfection every day, demonstrating the unimaginable capability and talent of individuals with mental disabilities.