At the core of this passionate team is a newly formed board, which I have the privilege of leading. We felt we needed to focus on three priorities and to streamline the processes that often go unseen but are critical to our continued success.
Cisco are already seen as a leader in the industry for driving and supporting the connection and progression of professional females. The first priority is to continue to lead and connect into our customers, partners and technology communities.
The Connected Women in Technology (CWT) event on October 8th, participation in the national business awards and the international women’s conference in Berlin this week, are just some examples of our leadership in building equality in the workspace.
The second priority is to inspire the next generation. Without these amazing young potentials what legacy can we hope to leave? Connected Women lead multiple activities here – too many to list- so here are some examples:
1) Kids in events, where we bring 13-18 year olds into Cisco for a day to experience our technology and pitch against our very own dragons den!
2) Outreach to schools, where connected women (and other Cisco volunteers and STEM ambassadors) visit schools to talk to them about technology, understand about the types of careers they could have and inspire these young adults to believe in themselves and technology.
3) Supporting strategic academic awards such as Women of the Future.
The third priority are the women of Cisco. Building a network for women to grow and develop inside our great company, in every geographical and business location is vital. This quarter we are delighted to have kicked off our 4th year of the executive shadowing program which is part of a number of Global initiatives to help reach 30% equality across the business.
There are too many ladies to name and more importantly, THANK for their continued dedication, enthusiasm and support to making Connected Women such a successful institution in and outside of Cisco. They know who they are and I personally appreciate each and every one of them for their constant hard work!
I offer you to keep an eye on the connected women section of this blog and also follow our #CiscoCWW hashtag, both of which will give you more details should you want to get more information and join this high performing and frankly, inspirational network!
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