Positively Impacting One Billion Lives

Powering an Inclusive Future for All

Cisco invests in individuals and communities.

A total of 716 million^Ⓐ people were positively impacted through our social impact grants and signature programs between FY16–FY21.*

Helping nonprofits develop and scale tech solutions

Cisco and the Cisco Foundation's social impact grants to nonprofit organizations support early-phase, technology-based solutions that serve underrepresented and vulnerable populations.

Impact areas

Cisco's social impact grants are made in three focus areas and are key to meeting our goal to positively impact 1B people.

Cisco Crisis Response

We support programs and solutions focused on disaster relief, food insecurity, housing, and clean water.

Learning and digital skills development

Building digital skills, expanding access to quality education, and promoting STEM.

Economic empowerment

Investing in technology solutions that help underserved people gain financial independence.

How we measure impact

What we measure depends on what problems we are trying to solve. Here are some examples of the positive impacts within our social investment focus areas:

Increased access to critical resources such as water-quality solutions, housing, food, and humanitarian relief.
Increase in teacher capacity through better access to quality education resources and training, and improvements in student outcomes in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
Equitable access to financial services, employment and increased income via skills training for career development, and increased revenue and jobs created for entrepreneurs.

“No one person, business, or community can shape the future alone. It is those connections, the collaboration, and a commitment to inclusive innovation that will lead us into this new era.”

Tae Yoo, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Cisco

Transforming food assistance through tech

Plentiful offers an online reservation system to access local food pantries.

See our impact

Fostering access to math education

MIND Research Institute's program, ST Math, helps students learn through gamification. Discover how Cisco helps MIND Research Institute make math education come alive for over 1.34 million students every year.

Creating inclusive access to opportunity

Opportunity International creates digital pathways for women's economic empowerment.

Cisco Networking Academy alum makes a difference

Networking Academy provides IT education to 3 million people a year. A total of 95 percent of students completing CCNA curriculum or higher say the program helped them obtain a job or educational opportunity.

Validating our impact

We are committed to validating our impact

We engaged global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLC, to conduct an independent limited assurance of our progress to date against our goal to positively impact 1B people by 2025 through our social impact grants and signature programs. Below are the parameters that were used to calculate our progress between FY16–FY21. The Ⓐ symbol indicates that a number has been assured by PwC.

Social impact grants

Number of unique people
Positive impact on individuals reached
Cisco has provided a meaningful contribution

Signature programs

Networking Academy students who completed a course
Unique participating Networking Academy instructors
Individuals who have used Packet Tracer three times in a quarter

What is not included

COVID-19 cash grants
Most disaster/humanitarian relief cash grants
Technology donations
University research cash grants
Cash grants related to Cisco's compliance with India’s Companies Act
Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge
Global Problem Solvers: The Series

*Some of our social impact grantees also receive funding from other organizations. Please see the details on the criteria for the number of people positively impacted between FY16–FY21 and the independent limited assurance report. To access the assurance report, download the PDF and open in Adobe® Acrobat® Reader to click-to-accept terms to access the full document.

ESG Reporting Hub and 2022 Cisco Purpose Report

Cisco is putting people, technology, and resources toward Powering an Inclusive Future for All, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Visit our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Reporting Hub.