Avatar

Laura Quintana

Vice President

Corporate Affairs

Laura Quintana joined Cisco in 1999 and is currently Vice President and General Manager of Networking Academy, Cisco’s largest and longest-running Corporate Social Responsibility program. She leads a global organization of teams based in 50 countries, including strategy, product management, product development, global field, and operational service teams.

Laura and her team doubled the size of the Networking Academy over the past 3 years, and it now trains more than 2.1 million students annually (10.8 million since inception) in 180 countries with an annual in-kind contribution valued at over $300 million USD.

Laura drives partnerships with governments, academic institutions, social benefit organizations, and employers to prepare students to participate in today’s digital workforce and to connect them to career opportunities. Through Laura’s leadership, Networking Academy has become a critical part of country digital readiness, working with ministries of education around the world to further national digital agendas and develop the human capital necessary to support country transformation.

Prior to her current role, Laura successfully completed Cisco’s multi-year commitment to the Jordan Healthcare Initiative. She strategically collaborated with the Government of Jordan and was instrumental in driving tele-medicine, clinical collaboration, and tele-radiology projects that enabled quality healthcare services and benefited over 175,000 patients.

Previously, Laura held a variety of director-level roles within Cisco’s services organization. Before joining Cisco, Laura served in leadership positions for eleven years with Hewlett-Packard within Product Management and Operations, including a three-year assignment in Grenoble, France.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University. She was recognized by the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC) as one of the top 100 most influential and notable Hispanic Professionals in the Information Technology Industry; receiving HITEC Top 100 awards for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. She is fluent in Spanish and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their three children.

Articles

New Cisco Networking Academy CCNA curriculum accelerates path to job readiness for students around the globe

More than ever employers are feeling the impact of the IT skills gap. Since 2016, the gap has more than doubled and worldwide 79 percent of IT decision-makers face skills gaps today (2019 IT Skills and Salary Report: It Decision-Maker Insights, Global Knowledge). And research from McKinsey finds tha…

The Cybersecurity Talent Shortfall: How the Cisco Networking Academy is Meeting the Demand

The world of cybercrime never sleeps. There is a hacker attack every 39 seconds. Every day approximately 230,000 malware samples are created by cybercriminals and more than 4,000 ransomware attacks are deployed. To combat this never-ending siege, billions of dollars and countless hours are spent try…

Implementing a Successful Public-Private Partnership: Leveraging Technology and Innovation

This is the final article in a five-part series on how a company or organization can develop, implement, and sustain successful public-private partnerships (PPP) that achieve large-scale impact. Click to read part one on determining who to work with, part two on determining when and how long to eng…

Implementing a Successful Public-Private Partnership: Ensuring Long-Term Sustainability

This is the fourth article in a five-part series on how a company or organization can develop, implement, and sustain successful public-private partnerships (PPP) that achieve large-scale impact. Click to read part one on determining who to work with, part two on determining when and how long to en…

Implementing a Successful Public-Private Partnership: How to Execute

This post originally appeared on Triple Pundit. This is the third article in a five-part series on how a company or organization can develop, implement, and sustain successful public-private partnerships (PPP) that achieve large-scale impact. Click to read part one on determining who to work with, p…

Implementing a Successful Public-Private Partnership: How to Engage

This post originally appeared on Triple Pundit. This is the second article in a five-part series on how a company or organization can develop, implement, and sustain successful public-private partnerships (PPP) that achieve large-scale impact. Click here to read part one on determining who to work w…

Implementing a Successful Public-Private Partnership: Who to Work With

This post originally appeared on Triple Pundit. This is the first article in a five-part series on how a company or organization can develop, implement, and sustain successful public-private partnerships (PPP) that achieve large-scale impact. Stay tuned for next week’s post on determining when and h…

Cisco Networking Academy to Partner in Cuba

Today, we are pleased to announce that Cisco will begin a new relationship with the Universidad de las Ciencias Informaticas (UCI) of Cuba, with the intention of bringing the Cisco Networking Academy program to UCI students.…