Social Justice Takes Action

Support community partnerships, legislation, and advocacy

Cisco is driving equal rights and access to opportunity for African American/Black people by supporting the partnerships, nonprofits, and advocates shaping and impacting social justice policy, legislation, and philanthropy.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Awarded US$3.7 million to nonprofits that work in marginalized communities that fight for social and racial justice.
• Established the observance of Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
• Nominated 100 social justice/racial equity nonprofits for Cisco's matching gifts program through the employee Power to Empower Campaign in FY22.

Increase representation

Cisco is increasing the representation of African American/Black employees by addressing gaps in the number of applicants, expanding Social Talent Certified Interview training, and working with key organizations to source talented candidates.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Increased African American/Black representation in non-executive roles by 68 percent since fiscal year 2020 (FY20)
• Increased African American/Black representation in director-level roles by 96 percent since FY20
• Increased African American/Black representation in executive roles by 182 percent since FY20
• Increased our hiring rate for African American/Black employees from 5.9 percent in FY20 to 11 percent in FY22
• Hired 123 African American/Black project managers, engineers, technicians, and more through the OneTen initiative

Expand fair pay

Cisco is expanding our approach to fair pay and continuing to focus on promotion fairness to help ensure equity in our leadership pipeline.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have expanded our pay fairness program to include analysis on merit, promotion, and stock participation.

Increase board diversity

Cisco is increasing the diversity of our Board of Directors, focusing on African American/Black representation within our overarching strategies for full-spectrum diversity.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Increased the number of African American/Black candidates in our executive leadership pipelines
• Welcomed John D. Harris II as the first African American member of Cisco's Board of Directors
• Welcomed Marianna Tessel (2021) and Sarah Rae Murphy (2022). Women now hold five of our 11 board seats

Deliver inclusive culture and anti-discrimination training

Cisco delivers anti-discrimination and inclusive company culture training to our employees, partners, and select suppliers. This helps us recognize bias and discrimination, intervene, and expand our culture of trust, inclusion, and allyship.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Launched Building Skills for Conscious Culture (BSCC) training to Cisco employees in fiscal year 2022 (FY22).
• Achieved a 92% completion rate for employees in BSCC training in FY22
• Made Building Skills for a Conscious Culture training available to Cisco partners and are currently piloting the training with select suppliers.

Connect leaders and employees

Cisco is connecting leaders across our company, our partners, and suppliers to our African American/Black employees and Networking Academy students. Through our sponsorship initiative The Multiplier Effect (TME), leaders take action to accelerate the growth and careers of talented and diverse employees.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Invited Cisco leadership to take The Multiplier Effect Pledge
• Facilitated more than 1800 Proximity meetings with 95% of leaders reporting that they have adopted more inclusive behaviors.
• Introduced Cisco suppliers and partners to the impact and power of sponsorship to accelerate careers of diverse talent

Transform our supplier ecosystem

Cisco is accelerating diversity across our suppliers, committing to double the amount we spend with diverse suppliers by 2025, and supporting their success by sharing our solutions and innovations to drive equity and inclusion.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Increased spend with diverse suppliers by 56 percent in fiscal year 2022 (FY22)
• Received diversity metrics from 90% of our preferred suppliers in FY22.
• Made our Building Skills for a Conscious Culture training available to select suppliers.

Commit to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Cisco has committed US$150 million over five years to the strategic recovery and sustainability of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Of this total, $US50 million supports HBCU students pursuing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and US$100 million funds technology modernization.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Preserved US$1.5 billion in HBCU Title IV funding through services and software needed for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) compliance
• Donated $61M in services and software to HBCUs
• Completed 46 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) assessments and 28 technology installations at HBCUs
• Launched the Cisco Cyber Academy at Denmark Technical Institute
• Launched the first-ever HBCU Global Problem Solver Challenge and selected the winner: Mini City

Support Black-owned companies

Cisco is driving equitable opportunities for African American/Black -owned companies by providing access to capital, education, and customers. Our initiatives include special finance offers for technology modernization, educational programs, and training to increase revenue and profitability.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Created a zero-percent, 6-month deferral offer that has been presented to 24 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Provided equipment leasing and finance training to over 60 Cisco partners and HBCU students
• Hosted first-ever Black-owned Partner and Supplier Conference in Atlanta, GA
• Onboarded 17 African American Cisco Partner Community (AACPC) channel finance partners

Diversify our partner ecosystem

Cisco has committed US$50 million over five years to increase the number of African American/Black-owned technology companies in our partner ecosystem and accelerate their growth and financial success.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Created the African American Cisco Partner Community (AACPC) with more than 150 Black-owned partners focused on growth
• Initiated an accelerate program with a special focus on 15 AACPC partners.
• Provided opportunities, training, and support to AACPC partners to help drive demand for their businesses
• Launched a distribution acceleration plan to support, educate, and expand the base of AACPC partners.
• Connected over 20,000 diverse candidates with technical and management job prospects at Cisco or with partners

Invest in next-generation tech innovation

Cisco Investments' Aspire Fund is investing US$50M in exceptional Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), female founders and venture fund managers who deliver next-generation enterprise technology. Together, we're accelerating their business growth through access to the vast Cisco ecosystem.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have invested into BIPOC and female-led startups and venture funds including investments in Corellium, Work-Bench, L'ATTITUDE Ventures, and Acrew Capital.

Integrate human rights and inclusion across our business

Cisco is working across our enterprise to integrate a human rights perspective into our technology solutions and day-to-day operations through a focus on business and human rights, accessibility, and inclusive language.

As examples of some of our FY20–FY23 progress to date, we have:

• Established our Human Rights Advisory Committee to guide Cisco's business and human-rights strategy
• Published Cisco's Principles for Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Responsible AI Framework
• Joined The Valuable 500, a global business collective innovating together for disability inclusion
• Implemented an inclusive language policy to define criteria and identify harmful terms like "master/slave"
• Created an inclusive language playbook for engineers to facilitate removing harmful language from products