Employee Volunteerism

Volunteering is an important way for Cisco employees to build ties with the communities in which they work. Giving back to the community is one of the company's founding principles. Promoting employee volunteerism is a central component of Cisco's community involvement efforts.

Activities

Cisco's Employee Volunteer Program was first developed 13 years ago. In the past year alone, over $2 million in matching grants have been given to nonprofits where Cisco employees have volunteered. The program is managed by the Volunteer Connection Tool, Volunteer Steering Committees, and Civic Councils.

The Volunteer Connection tool is an online resource employees use to view and select volunteer opportunities that fit their skills and interests. Community organizations can access the tool to register their projects and request volunteers. Volunteer Steering Committees manage and direct local and corporate volunteer programs. Civic Councils are regional, voluntary networks of employees who develop and promote community engagement projects.

Cisco encourages and supports employee volunteerism through flexible working arrangements and incentives such as the Matching Gifts program. The Cisco Systems Foundation commits to match the time employees spend volunteering, as well as funds they contribute to nonprofits, with a cash donation equivalent to the time or contribution up to $1,000 per year per employee. Time donated by teams of volunteers is matched up to $10,000 per team.

We encourage employees to organize informal presentations through the Lunch and Learn Program to solicit support for volunteer projects.

Employees donate their time and expertise to community and charitable projects worldwide. Cisco employee volunteer programs include:

Strategic Product Grants: Employee volunteerism is an important part of the assistance offered to recipients.
Habitat for Humanity (HFH): Employee volunteers have helped to build more than 400 homes worldwide since 2001 through more than 80 HFH International affiliates globally.
Harvest of Hope: Employees participate in global hunger relief campaigns by collecting food in their local communities. Since 2000, Cisco has raised $13 million for local hunger relief organizations.
Leadership Fellows Program: Employees have the opportunity to work for a nonprofit organization in a full-time position for up to one year.
Nonprofit Organization Mentorship Program: Employees have the opportunity to oversee and develop marketing and IT strategies for nonprofits.

Performance

In 2005, more than 14,000 Cisco employees participated in volunteer programs.

20 Years of Service

Cisco President and CEO John Chambers launched the 20 Years of Community Service Campaign in May 2004 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the company. The goal was for Cisco employees to donate the equivalent of 20 years of voluntary service, or 175,200 hours, to communities worldwide. Cisco offered to donate up to $3 million to community development programs if this target was met. Employees were offered incentives such as paid days off to volunteer and matching grants for volunteer hours. Cisco employees donated 235,000 hours of community service hours—far exceeding our goal of 175,200 hours. More than 40 percent of our employees volunteered during the initiative.

Points of Light Award

In August 2005, Cisco was honored by the Points of Light Foundation with the prestigious Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs in Washington, D.C. With 41 percent of employees involved in various philanthropic endeavors, Cisco was recognized for its commitment to making workplace volunteering a central part of its overall corporate citizenship program. The Points of Light Foundation’s Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs is an international award that honors businesses of all sizes and from all industries that have made a commitment to effectively engage employees in volunteering. The Points of Light Foundation, the United States’ leading volunteer resource, views companies as one of the primary sources of volunteers and provides a full range of services to help businesses develop and sustain workplace volunteer programs.

Case Study: Israel Community Project

Neveh Hadassah Youth Village in Israel is home to 350 children who have been abandoned or whose families can no longer look after them. Many are recent immigrants to Israel from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. The Youth Village provides them with a secure home and offers counseling, educational activities and classes, and support services to help the children adapt.

Cisco employees volunteered their time to initiate an ongoing program of activities to support the village in October 2003. The program was developed by Cisco staff with the support of management and the local Civic Council. By the end of FY2005, more than 50 Cisco volunteers had participated in numerous activities focusing on Cisco's core strengths of providing education and technology.

A key initiative is the Learning Center, where Cisco volunteers provide individualized help to students, and teach English and other subjects to small groups once a week. Visits to Cisco offices are organized to let children experience what it is like to work at Cisco and participate in product demonstrations to help them understand how our products work.

In 2005, Cisco employees added several other activities. Volunteers took the children on day trips to science museums, and a new tutoring program was launched for older children, helping them prepare for their matriculation exams at the end of the school year. In addition, Cisco donated computer equipment to Neveh Hadassah, doubling the number of computers available. The proceeds from a recycling drive at Cisco offices were donated to the village, and employees volunteered to repair and install computers and connect them to broadband Internet access.

Next year, we plan to help young people at Neveh Hadassah participate in the Neta program, a three-year program which provides training for high-tech professions. To support this, Cisco corporate philanthropy has provided the Youth Village with a grant to cover the first year of tuition fees.

Case Study: Connecting Palm Island Community Youth Center

Cisco is working in partnership with several other companies to provide IT and communications facilities for a youth center in Palm Island, an isolated Australian community. Since it opened in 2004, the Palm Island Youth Center has become the hub of disadvantaged indigenous community in Queensland. Between 100 and 200 people, both young and old, meet there every day.

We are leading a collaboration to connect the community to the outside world. While the center was being built, Cisco employees and representatives from the Australian Department of Public Works, the Department of Education and Training, and James Cook University met youth center representatives and local authorities to discuss what the center needed and how best to use Cisco's expertise and technology. Cisco has provided state-of-the-art equipment for wireless networking at the youth center and a phone system that allows phone calls to be made through the Internet. This system dramatically reduces costs as the center is not charged per call.

In the future, Cisco plans to conduct an electronic games day at the center to encourage young people to start using ICT technology, and Cisco employees will participate in electronic mentoring to teach them how to maintain and manage the systems themselves.

Karen O'Brien, Indigenous Liaison Officer at the Department of Public Works, said: "Palm Island is a community with many social challenges. Cisco has opened a lot of doors for us. It simply wouldn't have happened if Cisco volunteers hadn't put their hand up to offer us their expertise and telephony infrastructure. It's the first time we've been able to offer the whole community a link to the mainland and even the rest of the world. It goes a long way to removing the isolation the community feels."

Learn how a Cisco salesperson initiated this project.

"I've always thought of myself as a change agent, but at some point, I asked myself, 'What others ways can I help to effect change?' The idea that I have a responsibility and an opportunity to do what I can to help in a broad way has been incredibly valuable and empowering."

Molly Tschang, Cisco Leadership Fellow, Executive Director, NetHope

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