Cisco has taken corporate citizenship to heart for decades. We know that pursuing our Purpose—to Power an Inclusive Future for All—is a journey. As one of the leading forces in connecting the world, we understand our unique opportunity to bring communities together and create meaningful change for everyone, everywhere.
Across the world, what it means to be a socially responsible corporation is in a state of transition. There’s a new global consciousness on the role forward-thinking businesses must play in social change. Technology companies, especially, are being looked to address so many issues: Prosperity that is concentrated in too few hands; climate extremes that disrupt ways of life and societies; lingering systemic racism and a lack of understanding about the inequities of access to opportunity or justice; laws that discriminate against and endanger LGBTQ+ people; the reversal of longstanding women’s rights in the U.S.; political polarization; voter suppression; threats to democracy; and responding to international violence and war.
The number of issues that need a response and the pace of change seems only to increase with time, but at Cisco, we see this new global consciousness as an indicator that our journey in pursuing our purpose has been on the right path.
We now see opportunities to go further – faster. To pursue our purpose in ways that continue to demonstrate what’s good for our business is good for the world.
As Cisco’s first Chief Social Impact Officer, I’m working with our teams to align our opportunities with Cisco’s business transformation and Cisco’s strategic priorities. The Social Impact Office has created a clear strategy to bring the full power of Cisco’s resources – our financial investments, our people and our influence – to maximize the positive, measurable impact in communities across the globe – aligned with our Purpose. I’m excited for the impact we will continue to have on our people, the planet, and society.
We will continue to build on our momentum and use our unique strengths as a company to bridge the widening gaps of inequality, intolerance, and injustice in the world through our 12 Social Justice Actions and our Social Impact Action Office. We’ll build the technology solutions, strategic partnerships, and capacities to go further, faster to respond to crises around the world through our Cisco Crisis Response team. We’ll keep engaging our people to drive Community Impact through employee giving back programs, engaging with partners and customers through the Partnering for Purpose initiative, and sponsoring social justice grantmaking. And we’ll continue to invest in new opportunities to drive impact through our Social Innovation Investments team and in partnership with the Cisco Foundation.
