April is International Volunteer Month. All month lengthy, we’re recognizing among the methods Cisco workers give their time, abilities, and experience of their communities.
Cisco and the Cisco Basis’s distinctive method to supporting nonprofit organizations usually begins with funding, nevertheless it not often ends there. Our goal is at all times to deliver one of the best 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 offered consulting and advisory help to the organizations they choose for funding, emphasizing the distinctive energy of technique, know-how, and information to facilitate operational success and scaling. Now, a brand new skill-based volunteering program is deepening our consultative contribution to our social impression companions by matching them with skilled technologists inside Cisco.
“Bringing every little thing Cisco has to the desk to help our nonprofit companion organizations is a key aspect of our social impression investing framework. Our engaged workers are an unimaginable useful resource to assist enhance our nonprofit companions’ impression around the globe.”
—Charu Adesnik, Govt Director of the Cisco Basis and Director of Cisco Social Impression Investments
An additional layer of help for Cisco nonprofit companion organizations
Referred to as Tech for Social Good, this modern program empowers Cisco worker volunteers to harness their skilled abilities and data to help grantee organizations which have already been vetted and chosen as particularly high-potential by Cisco’s Social Impression 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, information structure, information science, AI, operational effectivity, and extra. Additionally they present tech profession mentorship to people who use the providers 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 scenario
Why would Cisco workers dedicate their time to tech consulting with nonprofits? In line with 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 obsessed with—and nonprofits achieve entry to the specialised assets wanted to attain their imaginative and prescient. Plus, it’s a fantastic alternative for workers to make use of their skilled abilities (and be taught new ones); construct deeper networks and neighborhood; and discover private success. And Cisco’s worker base is deeply engaged. For the final 5 years, over 80% of our workers have volunteered, donated, or participated in different types of neighborhood impression. Our workers have at all times been genuinely obsessed with giving again—and particularly conscious of the ability of know-how to attach and uplift folks at unprecedented scale.
Abhishek Kumar, an engineering chief within the CX Engineering group, drives innovation round AI and Generative AI whereas main a group 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 may 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 way of one of the best approaches to enhancing success by way of synthetic intelligence. “As a technologist, I wished to place my digital abilities and expertise in direction of fixing issues for humanity in my very own small however significant manner. By way of Tech for Social Good, I’ve helped organizations navigate complicated 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 need to share one of the best of their skilled skillsets with excellent social impression organizations.
Entrepreneurship for All
Accelerating financial and social impression 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 linked the group with an skilled Cisco volunteer, to nice consequence. “Our volunteer was very, very useful,” stated Gary Chamberlain, EforAll’s Chief Know-how Officer. “She offered suggestions concerning the general method and a few very inventive ideas for enhancing 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. Just lately, six Cisco and Splunk workers participated in AnnieCannon’s Profession Week shows, offering data and inspiration. Suggestions from the contributors was universally constructive:
“Listening to the visitor audio system’ journeys gave me a contemporary perspective on profession progress and flexibility.”
“It was so reassuring to listen to that even business leaders confronted setbacks and nonetheless constructed profitable careers.”
“I by no means thought of sure profession paths earlier than, however now I see how I can use my abilities in several methods!”
Actual Expertise, Actual Impression
We’re at all times proud to reply as “one Cisco” in help of our social impression 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. By way of such collaborations, we will obtain exponential impression—collectively.
For extra data and to get entangled:
To be taught extra concerning the impression Cisco workers are making, take a look at our “What We Achieved” eBook about how we’ve supported our workers’ giving again efforts and reworked our collective contributions within the course of.
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