Employee Community Impact Stories

Highlighting the many ways our employees give back in communities around the world

Transforming a hospital in Kraków, Poland

Cisco technology creates new possibilities and best-in-class connectivity for an entire hospital community.

Cisco principal engineer Mariusz Kazmierski originally planned to help renovate a garden at the University Children’s Hospital Kraków. When he learned that the hospital was facing profound technology issues, he switched gears.

As a leader within Cisco’s Giving Back Ambassadors—employees who champion partnerships with specific philanthropic organizations and foundations—Mariusz was well versed in coordinating volunteering efforts, donation drives, and providing strategic Cisco support for charitable initiatives. He put the wheels in motion to engage Cisco in overhauling the hospital’s aging technology infrastructure.

In early 2020, Cisco initiated a series of projects and technology donations that would touch on every facet of the hospital’s communication needs: Wi-Fi, collaboration, security, and mobile networking. Now, the entire hospital community benefits from best-in-class connectivity—from the doctors and hospital staff who can securely access vital information without disruption to the patients who can communicate with loved ones without glitches.

As with many of Cisco’s Employee Community Impact initiatives, making an impact in one area led to other opportunities. More than 150 Cisco employee volunteers, many of whom have personal histories and and associations with the hospital, are now working together to help renovate the hospital’s aging rooms.

In less than two years, Kazmierski expanded his original focus from creating a modest garden to implementing comprehensive improvements to one of Poland’s largest children’s hospitals. With Cisco’s help, employee volunteers will continue to make a positive impact on their lives and on the lives of those around them.

Unforgettable, unconditional love

A Cisco team leverages Artificial Intelligence to change the ways we communicate about suicide.

What does it take to make a real difference in one of society’s greatest challenges—preventing death by suicide?

For a group of dedicated Cisco volunteers, Artificial Intelligence holds the key to identifying instances of harmful misinformation online that plays a significant role in increasing suicide rates.

The Artificial Intelligence for Good: Suicide Prevention project was started in partnership with S.A.V.E. The project leverages research by Dr. Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, who found that “In cases where reports of celebrity suicides didn’t adhere to the WHO guidelines, the contagion effect increased the national suicide rate by up to 13 percent.”

Cisco’s Meghan Richardson joined the team in 2020. For Meghan, this important work is personal. In 1994, she was shaken awake by her sister to the news that her older brother had died by suicide.

Ten days before, Kurt Cobain had taken his own life and it was being discussed in detail on the news: the pictures, the note, the location, and the method. Meghan couldn’t help but wonder, did all that coverage have an impact on her brother's decision?

Meghan and the team use their Time2Give to work through articles on suicide, scanning for harmful language and categorizing them to report back to the project’s User Interface with the intention of influencing new models and standards for media coverage.

“I am so grateful to Cisco for seeing a need and giving its employees the tools to give back. I truly admire how Cisco is changing the conversation around mental health. Through volunteer opportunities such as this, Cisco has provided the bridge to change and recovery for my heart.”

Expanding our reach

Cisco programs partner to expand pro bono legal advocacy across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Coordinated legal advocacy and pro bono programs often struggle to take root throughout the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. The disparate laws and customs across countries create challenges when it comes to growing pro bono at scale.

Kedian Goode, Cisco Senior Corporate Counsel, felt that Cisco could make a difference. “Nothing’s impossible when you work with a great team of highly motivated lawyers and business professionals.”

Goode, Cisco’s pro bono lead for EMEA, helped assemble a team to create partnerships with law firms, community interest groups, charities, and other organizations that have enabled Cisco’s pro bono activities across the region.

Similar work is ongoing in Italy, where the team—along with a partner law firm and a nongovernmental organization—created a legal advocacy program for high school students on cybercrime.

These bonds have forged tighter collaboration across EMEA country borders among the volunteers, who find purpose and fulfillment in helping people in need find their path and make a lasting impact beyond their everyday jobs at Cisco.

Annick De Waele, executive sponsor for the EMEA pro bono program, is pleased with the team’s results. “I am so grateful for all the effort put in by this entire team. Together, they are charting a course for generating immense impact in EMEA. It’s events like these that truly embody our culture of teamwork, community involvement, and personal growth.”