At Cisco, we believe that our communities are driven by the dream of a better future – a future in which every individual is empowered to meet his own needs, to lead her own rewarding life. However, we recognise that not all of our communities can turn those dreams in to reality without some help.

That’s why Cisco has created a Community Investment Programme that focuses our financial and technological resources on the core themes of education, basic needs, responsible citizenship and vocational training. Alongside the Cisco Global Programme, local Cisco operations manage their own contribution to the local community through the formation of Civic Councils. Comprised of a body of voluntary Cisco employees, the Civic Council ensures that we can have the greatest impact in the community whilst remaining accountable to our employees.

We realize that the single biggest driving force for change are our employees themselves and therefore actively encourage individuals to give their time, effort and expertise back to UK and Ireland communities. We promote a culture of charitable giving and connect our colleagues to non-profit making organisations serving the communities in which we live. We invest our best-in-class networking equipment to those organisations that can most effectively put it to work for our communities.

Cisco’s UK and Ireland Community Investment Programme currently consists of four strategic initiatives:

• Volunteerism
  Cisco actively encourages employees to become ‘Cisco Citizens’, volunteering to work on projects where they can make a real difference to the quality of people’s lives. Cisco helps to make this contribution have a greater impact and show its support for volunteerism by the donation cash to the non-profit organisation in relation to employee hours given
• Fundraising
  Whether it’s fundraising for one of Cisco’s chosen ‘Charities of the Year’, or one of an individual’s choice, Cisco actively encourages fundraising by matching direct contributions to non-profit making organisations whose missions and activities we support
• Technology in Non-Profit Making Organisations
  Our partnerships with not for profit organisations give them access to technology solutions and leverages the power of the internet, enabling them to operate more effectively and focus on the individuals they serve
• Workforce Development for the New Economy
  We invest in technology and training that help people develop skills to enter or re-enter today’s workforce, while also investing in the basic needs – e.g. food, shelter, healthcare – that enable training and education