Fabio Cabrini
Instructor,
Centro Educacional de Pedreira
Sao Paolo, Brazil
Fabio grew up in the same slum neighborhood where the school is located. Unhappy memories growing up with a parent who was a teacher made him swear to never become one. He studied engineering while maintaining school computers in his free time. After the school offered him a student teacher position, he developed a passion for teaching.
Fabio became the coordinator for the telematic technical course and was first introduced to Cisco curriculum. The Academy contributed greatly to his professional development and career by triggering interest in networking. Fabio now helps children from his old neighborhood gain an interest and a passion for technology and networking. He uses CCNA to kick start their pursuit of higher education at the very same school that helped foster his passion for teaching.
Robin Eldridge
Governor, Onley Prison
United Kingdom
“One thing I’ve always felt very strongly is that we can never underestimate the power of telling someone they’ve done something well. And bear in mind, these guys when they achieve a module of their learning in the IT training, it may be the first time they’ve ever received a certificate, it may be the first time they’ve even done anything positive in their lives. So we try the impossible by recognizing that achievement and that success.”
Yuriy Boyko
Asst. Professor, Kiev University
Ukraine
As a child, Yuriy loved building stereos and radio-receivers. So naturally he graduated with a radio-physics degree in 1978. He worked for the University while completing post-graduate studies in Engineering and has been here for his entire career.
His relationship with Cisco began after being placed in charge of the awareness-raising community center. Yuriy wanted to create professional resources in the workforce to prepare engineers, programmers and network administrators. The Cisco Academy made this possible.
Yuriy worked with instructors at three other academies to develop a competition that would test the knowledge of their students and reveal any hidden problems or weaknesses in teaching methods. It also helped motivate the students to participate in the Cisco Academy program. The tasks were designed to be extremely difficult, so Yuriy knew the students were applying their very best abilities. In the end the competition instilled professionalism, desire and even a bit of stubbornness into his students, all traits they would need to ultimately succeed in the world.
Tefera Waluwa
Minister of Capacity Building
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
“Every aspect of Ethiopian life must be IT assisted so that we can compete in the world and sell whatever we may produce or provide services globally. The Cisco Academies are key to the strategy of developing our human resources. IT provides much greater potential for developing countries than the developed countries. There is a remote part of Ethiopia with a high population. Now there is a center there with Internet, video conferencing and telephone services. We’ve come quite a long way from having no access at all to a connection with New York or Tokyo. Can you imagine? This is a very huge potential.”
Ahmed Korany
Academy Alumnus,
Entrepreneur, BEST Academy
Fayoum, Egypt
“I dreamed of starting my own business to support my community through different activities including community service. We opened Computer Center on October 23, 2006 with 9 computers. We buy, sell, repair and install computers and Internet services to the surrounding community. Networking Academy empowered me to acquire the skills needed to start my own business so I didn’t need to look for a job.”
Gyanesh Chaudhr
Chairman,
Rani Dutta Arya Vidyalaya Orphanage
Delhi, India
“The school was started in 1995 for the orphan and fatherless children living here. The education, clothing and food are all free and we try to help them begin a career here. We encourage the children to join the institution because we want to educate them so that they can stand on their own feet, become responsible, active citizens, and make their living. We try to take as many as possible.
Three of our students in the last two years have completed ITE 2 and are now helping us maintain our computer network and architecture. We no longer call computer technicians because the students are mending the computers themselves.
When we keep our ‘mind wide open’, we are open to new ideas, experiment with the ideas, with the freethinking and free flow of ideas. Creative thinking and innovative thinking is what we do. Our teachers explore ways to improve the children, inspiring children to perform better in their studies. Creativity, progress, innovation, they are only achieved by keeping mind wide open.”
Huang Shaoxing
Engineer, Ericsson, Academy Alumnus
Guangzhou, China
“My roommate told me about CISCO and let me read her books. I became very interested about this networking technology, and came to Guangzhou and discovered Networking Academy at Sun Yat-sen University. I earned my CCNA qualification. My colleagues at Ericsson are all very good people. They help me and teach me a lot. I’ve been here 3 years and I still have interest because I continue to learn with all the new technologies in this world. Ericsson and Networking Academy also helped me learn to communicate with people. I know now that I can do anything I want in the world.”
Joy Miller
Academy Alumnus,
Bucks County Housing Group
Pennsylvania, USA
“I was a stay-at-home mom for ten years. When my husband and I divorced, I was on public assistance and couldn’t imagine what kind of job I could get with three kids, no home, and no skills. The Bucks County Housing Group gave me the opportunity to get on my feet, and off welfare. The program gave me a career…not just a job. I started at Toll Brothers and now work as a Network Engineer at LabCorp Inc. My starting salary was over $70,000. If you would’ve told me three years ago that I’d be bringing home this pay check, I’d have said, “How? How could I do that?” I’m one test away from Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) certification and for the first time in my life I’m responsible for my life. I’m even building my own home for me and my children.”
