April is International Volunteer Month. All month lengthy, we’re recognizing a number of the methods Cisco staff give their time, abilities, and experience of their communities.
Cisco and the Cisco Basis’s distinctive strategy to supporting nonprofit organizations usually begins with funding, however it not often ends there. Our goal is at all times to deliver the most effective of all that Cisco has to supply to the organizations we help—and the talents, time, and experience of our persons are our proudest providing of all.
For a few years, our social funding sector managers have supplied consulting and advisory help to the organizations they choose for funding, emphasizing the distinctive energy of technique, know-how, and knowledge to facilitate operational success and scaling. Now, a brand new skill-based volunteering program is deepening our consultative contribution to our social affect companions by matching them with skilled technologists inside Cisco.
“Bringing the whole lot Cisco has to the desk to help our nonprofit accomplice organizations is a key component of our social affect investing framework. Our engaged staff are an unbelievable useful resource to assist improve our nonprofit companions’ affect all over the world.”
—Charu Adesnik, Government Director of the Cisco Basis and Director of Cisco Social Affect Investments
An additional layer of help for Cisco nonprofit accomplice organizations
Often known as Tech for Social Good, this revolutionary program empowers Cisco worker volunteers to harness their skilled abilities and information to help grantee organizations which have already been vetted and chosen as particularly high-potential by Cisco’s Social Affect Funding and Cisco Basis groups.
Working collaboratively with every group to deal with urgent social and environmental challenges, our volunteers assist our grantees with consulting and strategic recommendation round digitization, knowledge structure, knowledge science, AI, operational effectivity, and extra. Additionally they present tech profession mentorship to people who use the companies of Cisco’s nonprofit companions.
Kirtee Yadav leads the Tech for Social Good program, with Sandeep Milar serving as govt sponsor. Kirtee works at Cisco as a Buyer Expertise Product Supervisor, whereas Sandeep serves as govt vice chairman of Cisco’s CX Product Administration group.
“The Tech for Social Good Program leverages Cisco’s technological experience to deal with essential social and environmental challenges. By empowering tech professionals to collaborate with nonprofits and neighborhood organizations, we aren’t solely driving innovation but additionally fostering a extra inclusive future for all.”
—Sandeep Milar, SVP of Cisco’s CX Product Administration group and Tech for Social Good govt sponsor
Enabling a win—win state of affairs
Why would Cisco staff dedicate their time to tech consulting with nonprofits? Based on Taproot Basis, which connects nonprofits with volunteers who donate their skilled experience in help of nonprofit missions, skills-based volunteering is a win for all concerned. Volunteers get to help causes they’re enthusiastic about—and nonprofits achieve entry to the specialised assets wanted to attain their imaginative and prescient. Plus, it’s an excellent alternative for workers to make use of their skilled abilities (and study new ones); construct deeper networks and neighborhood; and discover private achievement. And Cisco’s worker base is deeply engaged. For the final 5 years, over 80% of our staff have volunteered, donated, or participated in different types of neighborhood affect. Our staff have at all times been genuinely enthusiastic about giving again—and particularly conscious of the facility of know-how to attach and uplift individuals at unprecedented scale.
Abhishek Kumar, an engineering chief within the CX Engineering group, drives innovation round AI and Generative AI whereas main a workforce of information scientists. He notes, “I’m honored to contribute to the Tech for Social Good program. My advisory function centered on empowering organizations to navigate the AI panorama successfully, enabling them to make knowledgeable selections about know-how adoption that will finest serve their distinctive missions.”
Gops Sukumar, a know-how chief and product innovator engaged on AI with a doctoral specialization in Generative AI, additionally loves serving to neighborhood organizations assume by means of the most effective approaches to enhancing success through synthetic intelligence. “As a technologist, I wished to place my digital abilities and expertise in the direction of fixing issues for humanity in my very own small however significant manner. Via Tech for Social Good, I’ve helped organizations navigate advanced AI challenges, the place giant AI programs needed to be constructed, or else allied ecosystems needed to be developed.”
Learn on for 2 examples of what we’ve achieved by combining our strategic grantmaking course of with high-skill volunteers inside Cisco who wish to share the most effective of their skilled skillsets with excellent social affect organizations.
Entrepreneurship for All
Accelerating financial and social affect in communities nationwide by opening extra pathways to entrepreneurship, EforAll is investigating how AI can help their operations and programming. The Tech for Social Good program related the group with an skilled Cisco volunteer, to nice consequence. “Our volunteer was very, very useful,” mentioned Gary Chamberlain, EforAll’s Chief Expertise Officer. “She supplied suggestions concerning the total strategy and a few very inventive options for bettering it, avoiding bias, and steering the outcomes towards our entrepreneurs’ wants.”
AnnieCannons
AnnieCannons trains, prepares, and connects people who’ve skilled human trafficking to sustainable careers in tech. Lately, six Cisco and Splunk staff participated in AnnieCannon’s Profession Week shows, offering data and inspiration. Suggestions from the members was universally optimistic:
“Listening to the visitor audio system’ journeys gave me a recent perspective on profession progress and adaptableness.”
“It was so reassuring to listen to that even business leaders confronted setbacks and nonetheless constructed profitable careers.”
“I by no means thought-about sure profession paths earlier than, however now I see how I can use my abilities in several methods!”
Actual Abilities, Actual Affect
We’re at all times proud to reply as “one Cisco” in help of our social affect companions—reaching throughout applications and departments to supply all that we will in help of a nonprofit’s well being, progress, and long-term success. Via such collaborations, we will obtain exponential affect—collectively.
For extra data and to get entangled:
To study extra concerning the affect Cisco staff are making, take a look at our “What We Achieved” eBook about how we’ve supported our staff’ giving again efforts and remodeled our collective contributions within the course of.
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