What do you get when you toss 60 powerhouse women from across the globe into a fleet of Ferraris, vintage Alfa Romeos, and 1960s Mercedes, and send them on a whirlwind, four-day drive through Italy?
If your answer is chaos, couture, and charity, you’re getting close.
This is the annual CASH & ROCKET rally, a glamorous, all-female fundraising road trip dreamed up by Danish-British philanthropist and film producer Julie Brangstrup, who described the experience with a smile:“It’s a little difficult to explain.”
And yet, thousands of miles, millions raised, and dozens of lifelong friendships later, the heart of it is easy to understand:
“I wanted to unite women, to create this solidarity community,” Brangstrup said. “It’s become a really tight-knit community. And that’s been really, really wonderful to watch.”
Brangstrup launched CASH & ROCKET in 2011 after co-founding the legendary Gumball 3000 with her ex-husband. But this event? It’s hers, and it’s got heart, horsepower, and heels. Past participants include Paris Hilton, Emma Thompson, Ashley Graham, and this year, the lineup included Selita Ebanks, Juliet Angus, Melissa Roxburgh, and Olympian Mathilda Karlsson.
“No one really gets it until they do it,” Brangstrup admits. “It’s all about energy and speed, not as a road race, but as a fundraising event. But it’s also really, really hard work.”
Every year brings a fresh route and a fresh set of faces, this time, a scenic journey from Rome to Sicily, with detours for rooftop cocktails, beach dance parties, and a garden dinner on the Amalfi Coast. Women pay roughly $10,000 to join a car team, then fundraise another $5,000 to $10,000 for charities like Save the Children and Sumbandlia, which educates children in rural South Africa. So far, the rally has raised $6.6 million.
“You have four days to hit this target and really go out there and help us to drive the change,” said Brangstrup. “The women who do this are strong and an inspiration.”
And diverse, from Dubai to South Africa, L.A. to London, the rally brings together actresses, influencers, business moguls, and philanthropists. But more than their résumés, it’s their resilience that stands out.
“They are the kind of women who, whatever they’ve had thrown at them, just kept going,” Brangstrup said. “A lot of them are running their own companies, and they are mothers, and we all know that feeling of being stretched… working and having children and wanting to do both successfully.”
That drive (pun intended) is contagious.
“That’s the most unique part of this,” she said. “You have so much character, so many different nationalities, and they all come together, and some of the stories you hear along the way are just extraordinary.”
And they keep coming back.
“Some of these women who were driving together in Italy this year, they first met at CASH & ROCKET 10 years ago. Now they’re the godmothers of each other’s children.”
In a world where giving back often comes with a ballroom and a name tag, Brangstrup wanted something different.
“These are women who love to give back,” she said. “Who know that it’s a privilege to be able to do that, and who make that part of their DNA or business models, and who encourage it in their children.”
“If the kids see their mothers going out there to fundraise while fostering new friendships, it becomes a part of their DNA too.”
Which is exactly what Brangstrup is doing herself. After all, “driving the change” isn’t just a slogan for her, it’s in her DNA.
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