What can the ability of ten obtain? Right here at Cisco, it could possibly — and does — change lives.
With ten days off to volunteer by our Time2Give program, $10,000 in matching donations, and tens of hundreds workers taking part, Cisconians are empowered to show Objective into motion, 12 months after 12 months.
And it’s not simply good for communities; it’s good for enterprise. A three-year longitudinal examine from Cisco’s Folks Intelligence workforce discovered that Cisco workers who gave again stayed on the firm longer, had larger bonuses, and acquired extra peer recognition.
“[Volunteerism] is a approach to actually drive enterprise worth,” shared Cisco Chief Social Affect and Inclusion Officer, Brian Tippens, to Human Sources Director. “It can be seen as a strong model constructing instrument, or constructing belief as an moral provider, moral accomplice within the communities the place we reside and work.”
As we shut out fiscal 2025 (July 2024 – July 2025), our folks’s collective influence was felt in communities all over the world. By the numbers:
- 81% of workers participated in neighborhood influence initiatives – for the sixth 12 months in a row
- 566,166 complete volunteer hours
- $33.4M complete in worker donations and matching presents
In fact, whereas the numbers are spectacular, they don’t present the true story of our influence. So seize your suitcases — we’re taking you all over the world to see how our workers are putting our Objective into motion.
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An opportunity connection by a Cisco mentorship program led Josh Forrest to Engineers With out Borders (EWB), a non-profit that helps communities meet fundamental human wants by engineering initiatives.
He realized a few mission at Wema Kids’s Centre in Kenya, an orphanage that serves ~400 college students from pre-Ok to highschool. As a consequence of an inconsistent power grid, the centre was dealing with excessive working prices, variable water and electrical energy entry, and well being considerations. EWB was initially introduced on to assist alleviate a typhoid outbreak, and the necessity for assist continued to develop.
Josh, a Technical Consulting Engineer – who simply so occurred to have {an electrical} engineering diploma and a dad with a photo voltaic enterprise – jumped on the likelihood to provide again. Along with 5 volunteers, together with his Cisco mentor and his father, Josh spent two weeks in Kenya. Throughout that point, the workforce put in 24 photo voltaic panels that generate 10kW of energy, and an extra 30kW battery financial institution that gives electrical energy by the evening.
“The factor that made the largest influence was seeing the youngsters gentle up when there was water and lightweight at evening with out the fear of it going off,” shared Josh. “Seeing how excited they have been was indescribable.”
Josh has been invited to return once more subsequent 12 months – serving to to teach the scholars on constructing their very own photo voltaic panel methods.
📍 San Jose, United States
When Mohit Vaswani, a Cisco Resolution Engineer, and his spouse witnessed homelessness of their area people, they knew they couldn’t sit again whereas others went to sleep hungry. As an alternative, in 2013, his household started taking motion, one peanut butter and jelly sandwich at a time.
“We began making meals in our kitchen and distributing them each week to shelters,” shared Mohit. “We began very small with solely 50 sandwiches … however our program grew as extra family and friends joined.”
At the moment, Mohit distributes roughly 500 – 700+ meals per week to 5 Bay Space shelters and charities by his non-profit group, Lunch Bag Initiative. Donations to Lunch Bag Initiative are actually absolutely matched by Cisco by its Matching Items program, with Mohit and Cisco workers volunteering time by Time2Give — serving to to finish starvation, sandwich by sandwich.
📍 France, Spain, and Portugal Europe
Every year, Cisco workers all over the world lace up their boots — not simply to stroll, however to make a tangible distinction. The custom started in 2022, when greater than 400 Cisconians from 21 nations walked a portion of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage path community in Europe, elevating over €100,000 for most cancers charities.
Constructing on that momentum, almost 300 colleagues and relations from 21 nations got here collectively this previous June on a “journey for local weather motion,” trekking between France, Spain, and Portugal. 35,000 kilometers have been hiked as workers took significant steps (actually!) for the planet.
Over the course of 5 days (with some climbing 10 days), contributors raised consciousness and funds for NGOs addressing the impacts of local weather change, strengthening their collective dedication to sustainability and international connection. In complete, almost $90,000 USD was raised for 17 charities.
📍 East
In April 2025, 10 Cisco volunteers from three nations got here collectively for a ten-day volunteer journey to assist Palestinian refugees residing in 4 refugee camps throughout Lebanon.
Masking over 1,000 kilometers throughout the nation — from Beirut to Saida to Tripoli to Baalbek — the workforce’s mission was easy: to deliver pleasure and assist to those that have been displaced.
Via their Time2Give journeys, which have dated again to 2023, the workforce has positively impacted 1,500 households, sponsored greater than 250 orphans, educated 400 college college students, and lots of extra. Their work spanned renovating and enhancing clinics to delivering licensed trainings to college students and lecturers, together with by Cisco Networking Academy.
“After we acknowledge the ability of inclusion and are available along with a standard function, we are able to pursue a noble trigger in our lives and for humanity – serving to folks of their deepest hour of want,” shared Mohammed Suwwan, an Account Govt based mostly in Germany and a co-organizer of the journey.
📍 Japan, Asia
For Masahiro Takebayashi, a ardour for connectivity began early — on the paths of a mountain hike organized by his college, Sugamo Excessive College in Japan.
However, with no mobile phone reception, what occurs if there was medical emergency?
Masahiro noticed a possibility — and an answer by networking infrastructure.
“It was by this occasion that I developed an curiosity in wi-fi expertise, which led me to pursue a profession at TAC Wi-fi,” shared Masahiro, at this time a Technical Consulting Engineer at Cisco.
This previous fiscal 12 months, he volunteered as an alumnus and entered the mountain two days previous to the occasion, serving to arrange antennas and set up a wi-fi communication community between mountain cabins. He plans to proceed helping on the trek by Cisco Time2Give.
What’s subsequent in fiscal 2026
Looking forward to fiscal 2026, we stay dedicated to our Objective – to Energy an Inclusive Future for All – and to supporting our folks as they create a optimistic influence on communities all over the world. Collectively, as workers, prospects, companions, stakeholders, and Cisco workers, we are able to flip particular person motion into international influence.
Psst – Are you a Cisco worker who desires to get entangled? Head to our Group Affect Portal to begin discovering volunteer alternatives, requesting matching presents, beginning a fundraiser, and extra. And, you probably have a Time2Give story value sharing, we’d love to listen to it — attain out by way of communityimpact@cisco.com
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