April is World Volunteer Month. All month lengthy, we’re recognizing a number of the methods Cisco staff give their time, expertise, and experience of their communities.
Cisco and the Cisco Basis’s distinctive method to supporting nonprofit organizations typically begins with funding, nevertheless 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 abilities, 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 affect companions by matching them with skilled technologists inside Cisco.
“Bringing all the pieces 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 enhance our nonprofit companions’ affect 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 accomplice organizations
Referred to as Tech for Social Good, this revolutionary program empowers Cisco worker volunteers to harness their skilled expertise and information 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 handle 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. In addition 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 government sponsor. Kirtee works at Cisco as a Buyer Expertise Product Supervisor, whereas Sandeep serves as government vice chairman of Cisco’s CX Product Administration group.
“The Tech for Social Good Program leverages Cisco’s technological experience to handle crucial social and environmental challenges. By empowering tech professionals to collaborate with nonprofits and group organizations, we’re not 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 government sponsor
Enabling a win—win scenario
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 sources wanted to realize their imaginative and prescient. Plus, it’s an awesome alternative for workers to make use of their skilled expertise (and study new ones); construct deeper networks and group; 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 group 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 folks at unprecedented scale.
Abhishek Kumar, an engineering chief within the CX Engineering group, drives innovation round AI and Generative AI whereas main a crew of knowledge scientists. He notes, “I’m honored to contribute to the Tech for Social Good program. My advisory position targeted 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 group organizations suppose by way of the most effective approaches to enhancing success by way of synthetic intelligence. “As a technologist, I needed to place my digital expertise and expertise in the direction of fixing issues for humanity in my very own small however significant approach. By way of Tech for Social Good, I’ve helped organizations navigate complicated AI challenges, the place massive AI techniques needed to be constructed, or else allied ecosystems needed to be developed.”
Learn on for 2 examples of what now we have achieved by combining our strategic grantmaking course of with high-skill volunteers inside Cisco who want 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 linked the group with an skilled Cisco volunteer, to nice end result. “Our volunteer was very, very useful,” mentioned Gary Chamberlain, EforAll’s Chief Expertise Officer. “She offered suggestions in regards to the general method and a few very artistic solutions 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. Lately, six Cisco and Splunk staff participated in AnnieCannon’s Profession Week displays, offering info and inspiration. Suggestions from the members 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 expertise in numerous methods!”
Actual Abilities, Actual Impression
We’re at all times proud to reply as “one Cisco” in help of our social affect companions—reaching throughout packages 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 affect—collectively.
For extra info and to get entangled:
To study extra in regards to the affect Cisco staff are making, try our “What We Completed” eBook about how now we have supported our staff’ giving again efforts and reworked our collective contributions within the course of.
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