Zūm

This week the Zūm team was honored to participate in the #RoadmapTo100 Summit organized by World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Bezos Earth Fund, focused on developing an equitable path to electrifying U.S. school buses. Held July 24 in Baltimore, the event brought together policymakers, transportation providers, manufacturers and other stakeholders across the electric school bus ecosystem. Speakers included Pallav Prakash, Zum’s Director of Electrification Program Management; and Dewayne J. McClary, Senior Director of Partnerships and Development at Zum. A special thanks to Sue Gander and her team at the WRI Electric School Bus Initiative and everyone involved in creating such an insightful and inspiring event! See photos and learn more about #RoadmapTo100 here: https://lnkd.in/gDXgBtrn  #studenttransportation #EVs

Zūm is thrilled to share the latest Our Climate Journey interview, this time with our Chief People Officer, Chris Tobin: "Climate change is the issue of our time. We have to tackle it at a certain level to make a dent. Swapping out tens of thousands of diesel buses for EVs—that makes a dent. That’s one of the main reasons I joined Zum, to be part of a company making a bigger dent." Find Chris's impressive interview on our blog: https://lnkd.in/gHrUS6UV

The Zūm team had a busy week at #STNEXPO, the annual conference (hosted by School Transportation News) that welcomes leaders across the industry to explore ideas, connect with other professionals and share the latest advancements in safe, sustainable transportation. Highlights include several group sessions facilitated by Zum; the Green Bus Summit, where Pallav Prakash, Zum’s Director of Electrification Program Management, was named the 2024 Innovator of the Year; and a special session to share Zum’s process of transitioning Oakland Unified School District’s 74-bus fleet to 100% electric buses with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. Thanks to Tony Corpin and Taylor Ekbatani for organizing yet another impactful industry event! More highlights and photos: https://lnkd.in/dC4zHz3A  #studenttransportation #sustainability

Zūm CEO and Founder Ritu Narayan appears on the latest episode of Eric Ries’ podcast, THE ERIC RIES SHOW, to talk about entrepreneurship, scaling trust and how Zum is transforming the industry with safe, reliable, sustainable and equitable student transportation. Narayan shares why she started Zum and what advice she would give entrepreneurs who are considering starting a business. “You should pick a problem that you are deeply passionate about – ideally, one you are facing yourself or you've seen people around you facing – and (something) that, no matter what, you would get up in the morning and keep at it for a very, very long time.” She adds, “It is super easy to drop out of an idea … unless you have a commitment to that mission and passion that you are the only one who is going to solve the problem. If you don't solve it, nobody else will solve it. That’s the only way to continue.” Watch or listen now: https://lnkd.in/ga5BfNAh  #studenttransportation #podcasts #entrepreneurship

Zūm is thrilled to share the latest Our Climate Journey interview, with the fantastic Melissa Shiu: "Sustainability—taking into consideration our long-term impact on our planet—should be both a guiding principle and a desired outcome in all design disciplines. The more thoughtfully our products and services are designed, the easier it becomes for people to make informed, sustainable purchasing decisions." Read her full, incredible interview on our blog: https://lnkd.in/ggJXSPcH

Yesterday Zūm CEO and Founder Ritu Narayan participated in a discussion at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2024, an annual gathering of tech leaders, top investors, VCs, banking executives, startup founders and global influencers. During the panel, “Founders’ Stories, Lessons, and Tools for Success,” Narayan discussed how Zum is leading student transportation into the green era. Other topics included fundraising, sustainability and the evolution of Narayan’s role as a founder/CEO. Other panelists included Lucy Guo, Founder and CEO of Passes and Co-founder of ScaleAI; David Neeleman, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Breeze Airways; and TJ Parker, Partner, Matrix Partners; and Co-founder and Former CEO, PillPack. Hosted by Andrew Nusca, the event was moderated by Polina Marinova Pompliano Pompliano, Founder of The Profile. Held July 15-17 in Park City, Utah, Fortune Brainstorm Tech examines “the most potent issues at the intersection of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Washington and Hollywood – and their impact on the world.” And many thanks to Fortune Managing Director Maryam Banikarim 🗽🚕 ❤️ for making us feel so welcome! https://lnkd.in/dRX3XZ8s #studentransportation #sustainability #AI

Congratulations to Pallav Prakash, EV Program Manager for Zūm, on receiving the 2024 Innovator of the Year award from School Transportation News (STN)! Prakash accepted the prestigious award at STN EXPO on Sunday from Tony Corpin, President and Publisher of STN Media Group. It honors Prakash for his exceptional leadership and pioneering work to electrify Zum’s school bus fleets and deploy revolutionary vehicle-to-grid technology. “The key to success of any innovation is to take an idea from trials to commercial development,” Prakash said. “It takes a complete ecosystem and committed partners to come together and make it happen. I sincerely dedicate this award to all those incredible partners who have contributed to our fleet electrification journey every day.” Thanks to Tony Corpin and STN Senior Editor Taylor Ekbatani for their support, and congrats to Pallav on this well-deserved recognition!

Zūm is excited to share the latest Our Climate Journey interview, with our fantastic technical recruiter Oliver Jones: "Conservation is the number one principle here. We don’t take more than we need, we use what we take, and we share. Sustainability is just that, but at a macro scale. If our entire society lived by these principles, we wouldn’t run down our resources, and plants, animals, and our environment would return each year." Read the full, inspiring interview on our blog, below: https://lnkd.in/eSRaRDYW

In an interview with the San Francisco Business Times, Zūm CEO and Founder Ritu Narayan talks to reporter William Hicks about how Zum is modernizing student transportation through technology and electrification. “Think of us like (Amazon Web Services) for student transportation,” Narayan says. “Districts give us the entire contract for doing transportation, then we have to get the school buses, we get the location or yard to store the school buses, we hire the drivers. We have the technology to bring every single stakeholder from students to parents to school district administrators to drivers — everybody is on the same technology, and we optimize and design the system in such a way that it’s very transparent and reduces commute time for students.” Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/dfbE-fCW #studenttransportation #EVs #sustainability

Zūm is thrilled to share the latest Our Climate Journey interview, with our incredible recruiter Emory Jones: "We are spearheading the fight against climate change by providing children with cleaner, safer student transportation. The most crucial action Zum can take is to stay the course and avoid complacency. As trendsetters, we have to continue to innovate and stay true to our vision: building a cleaner, more sustainable future through electrified transportation." Read the full interview on our blog, below: https://lnkd.in/gBV9F3tZ