April is World 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 method to supporting nonprofit organizations typically begins with funding, nevertheless it not often ends there. Our purpose is at all times to carry the very best of all that Cisco has to supply to the organizations we assist—and the talents, time, and experience of our individuals are our proudest providing of all.
For a few years, our social funding sector managers have supplied consulting and advisory assist to the organizations they choose for funding, emphasizing the distinctive energy of technique, expertise, and knowledge 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 professional technologists inside Cisco.
“Bringing every part Cisco has to the desk to help our nonprofit accomplice organizations is a key aspect of our social impression investing framework. Our engaged staff are an unbelievable useful resource to assist improve 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 assist for Cisco nonprofit accomplice organizations
Referred to 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 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, knowledge structure, knowledge science, AI, operational effectivity, and extra. In addition 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 vp of Cisco’s CX Product Administration group.
“The Tech for Social Good Program leverages Cisco’s technological experience to handle important 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? In line with Taproot Basis, which connects nonprofits with volunteers who donate their skilled experience in assist of nonprofit missions, skills-based volunteering is a win for all concerned. Volunteers get to assist causes they’re obsessed with—and nonprofits acquire entry to the specialised assets wanted to attain their imaginative and prescient. Plus, it’s an ideal alternative for workers to make use of their skilled abilities (and be taught 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 impression. Our staff have at all times been genuinely obsessed with giving again—and particularly conscious of the ability of expertise 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 knowledge scientists. He notes, “I’m honored to contribute to the Tech for Social Good program. My advisory position centered on empowering organizations to navigate the AI panorama successfully, enabling them to make knowledgeable choices about expertise adoption that might greatest serve their distinctive missions.”
Gops Sukumar, a expertise chief and product innovator engaged on AI with a doctoral specialization in Generative AI, additionally loves serving to neighborhood organizations suppose by the very best approaches to enhancing success by way of 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 method. By Tech for Social Good, I’ve helped organizations navigate complicated AI challenges, the place giant AI techniques needed to be constructed, or else allied ecosystems needed to be developed.”
Learn on for 2 examples of what we’ve got achieved by combining our strategic grantmaking course of with high-skill volunteers inside Cisco who need to share the very 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 assist their operations and programming. The Tech for Social Good program related the group with an professional Cisco volunteer, to nice end result. “Our volunteer was very, very useful,” mentioned Gary Chamberlain, EforAll’s Chief Expertise Officer. “She supplied suggestions in regards to the total method and a few very inventive recommendations 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 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 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 numerous methods!”
Actual Expertise, Actual Impression
We’re at all times proud to reply as “one Cisco” in assist of our social impression companions—reaching throughout packages and departments to supply all that we are able to in assist of a nonprofit’s well being, progress, and long-term success. By such collaborations, we are able to obtain exponential impression—collectively.
For extra data and to get entangled:
To be taught extra in regards to the impression Cisco staff are making, try our “What We Achieved” eBook about how we’ve got supported our staff’ giving again efforts and reworked our collective contributions within the course of.
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