This year, the Cisco Foundation’s APJC Regional Solution Grant (RSG) program has awarded funding to 12 grantee organizations (selected from 22 concept notes nominated by Cisco employees), with five outstanding Australian organizations leading impactful projects cross climate, education, and community empowerment. These grants enable innovative solutions that leverage digital technology and data to drive meaningful change in the region.
The RSG program is designed to empower Cisco employees to identify, nominate, and support local nonprofit organizations addressing critical community challenges in Education, Economic Opportunities, Crisis Response and Climate Resilience. It aligns with Cisco’s Purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All and harnesses Cisco’s technology, financial resources, and people to co-create scalable tech-enabled solutions that address critical global challenges, bridge the digital divide, and build sustainable, resilient communities.
Here’s a closer look at how these five grantee organizations scale impactful solutions and what Cisco Foundation grant support has unlocked for them.
Climate Council | Scaling Trusted Climate Information with Responsible AI
Project Summary: Founded in 2013 as Australia’s premier independent authority on climate science and proudly community-funded, Climate Council is launching a project to advance how their team translates complex research into rapid, accessible public communications by using AI-supported workflows. This project will help the team keep pace with today’s information environment and broaden reach while strengthening ethical AI governance.
“As a small, independent organisation, Climate Council is grateful for Cisco’s support to build our team’s skills and fluency with AI tools as we work to provide trusted, accessible information at increasing speed and scale.” – Heather Fisher, COO, Climate Council
Young Change Agents | Entrepreneurial Learning Hub – Scaling Young Change Agents
Project Summary: Founded in 2016 to help young people see problems as opportunities, Young Change Agents is a nonprofit and social enterprise upgrading and scaling its Entrepreneurial Learning Hub (ELH) platform. The ELH supports young people and educators in delivering entrepreneurial learning programs. This funding will help to deepen impact, expanding program reach to underserved youth.
“Cisco Foundation’s support helps us invest in the technology behind our Entrepreneurial Learning Hub, making it more accessible and available in more languages, so young people and educators in every community, especially regional and underserved ones, can build the confidence and skills to turn problems into opportunities. We’re grateful to Sam Lloyd-Green and the Cisco team for their guidance and excited about what we’ll achieve together.” – Sarah Nelson, CEO, Young Change Agents
Rainforest Rescue: Restoring Wet Tropics Rainforests: From Action to Impact
Project Summary: Established in 1999, Rainforest Rescue (dedicated to protecting and restoring the Daintree Rainforest) is building a centralized digital infrastructure to unify geospatial, drone, and bio-acoustic data into interactive dashboards for real-time ecological monitoring and conservation management in the Daintree and Wet Tropics region.
“Cisco’s support has let us move our restoration and conservation data out of scattered spreadsheets and paper forms and into one system that our whole team can see and trust. Working hands on with Esri to build the dashboard and Survey123, and now being trained to manage and update them myself, means we are no longer dependent on outside consultants to keep our own data working for us. Being able to map every property Rainforest Rescue has protected and every hectare we have restored since 1999 has given us, for the first time, a single picture of more than two decades of work. What this funding unlocks next is the external dashboard, so our partners can see, in real time and on a map, exactly what their support has made possible.” – Marine Deliens, Biodiversity and Nature Impact Lead, Rainforest Rescue
Left: Images of the Rainforest Rescue internal and public-facing impact dashboard, developed with Cisco RSG support, which tracks and shares our restoration, biodiversity and conservation outcomes in near real-time; Centre and Right: Cisco champion, Rick Rizk planting alongside his son at 110 Cape Tribulation Road during Rainforest Rescue’s Annual Community Tree Planting Day, helping to put 5,000 native trees in the ground and restore this precious part of the Daintree.
WWF-Australia | Powering Nature-Based Solutions to Care for Country
Project Summary: The North Kimberley Fire Abatement Project, which includes four Indigenous organisations, Balanggarra, Dambimangari, Wilinggin and Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation, is leading the design and implementation of a Biocultural Nature-based Solutions Platform to support Traditional Owner-led wildfire management. Developed in partnership with WWF-Australia and Charles Darwin University, the platform combines Traditional Knowledge, ranger-led data and advanced technology to assess biodiversity outcomes from Right-Way Fire management, strengthen cultural leadership on Country, and support participation in future nature-positive finance markets.
“Cisco’s support comes at a pivotal moment. Indigenous-led Right-Way Fire management is already delivering significant climate benefits across millions of hectares of northern Australia, but until now there has been no scalable way to demonstrate the biodiversity and cultural outcomes that sit alongside those achievements.
This funding will help Traditional Owners strengthen their own evidence systems, using technology in service of Indigenous knowledge, governance and decision-making.Together with our partners at the North Kimberley Fire Abatement Project and Charles Darwin University, we will be able to advance the Biocultural Nature-based Solutions Platform from an emerging concept into a validated, partner-owned system.
The project will unlock new tools for monitoring and managing Country, strengthen climate resilience, support biodiversity conservation and create pathways to future nature-positive finance that can help sustain Indigenous stewardship for generations to come.” – Nicole Forrester, Chief Regeneration Officer WWF-Australia
UNICEF Australia | Children Learning Smarter: Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning in Schools and Community Learning Centers in Timor-Leste
Project Summary: UNICEF Australia is scaling the Learning Passport platform in Timor-Leste (where over 40% live below the international poverty line and education quality is critically low) to improve equitable access to quality education through digital technology, focusing on teacher training and STEM modules for 12 Community Learning Centres, impacting 7,310 students and educators.
“Cisco’s support enables us to strengthen digital learning across Timor-Leste by empowering teachers, engaging students, and building the foundations for long-term, scalable improvements in education.” – Felicity Wever, Director of Programs & Impact, UNICEF Australia
©UNICEF Australia/UA148800/Andres
These grant partnerships were nominated by Cisco employee champions – Marianne Docherty (Multinational Account Executive), Rick Rizk (Duo Security TAC Engineer), Sam Lloyd-Green (Portfolio Account Executive) and Vivien Chia (Digital Marketing Manager); and showcases Cisco’s commitment to fostering and inspiring positive change. We look forward to engaging more Cisco employees to nominate important work driven by the cause close to their hearts and partnering with nonprofits addressing community needs.
Learn more about Cisco Foundation and types of support (funding, technology grants, strategic and technical advisory services and employee volunteerism).
This article was written with the assistance of generative AI tools and was reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by grantee partners, and our human editorial team.
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