Coming Together as Women of Cisco

Since its founding in 1997, the vision for Cisco’s Connected Women has been to attract, develop, retain, and celebrate women at Cisco. What started with five women has grown to more than 4,000 Cisco employees who participate in mentoring, speaker’s series, networking events, and community give-backs in nearly 40 countries.

It is my absolute privilege to serve as the global executive sponsor for Connected Women. One of my idols, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, once said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” And while I love her, I actually prefer to say, “There’s a special place in heaven for women who do help other women.” That last piece is at the heart of Connected Women. We listen, we learn, we support, we celebrate, and we help.

The internal mission of Connected Women is augmented by our externally facing group, Cisco Empowered Women’s Network. And while these groups are mighty on their own, we think we can go further, and do more, if we do it together. So today, I am excited to announce that we are bringing together the best of both legacies into a new powerful organization named Women of Cisco. By merging our internal and external-facing identities, we now have the opportunity to expand our reach with a single, strong platform for women and their allies.

We now have more than 100 chapters to bring the new Women of Cisco to life regionally. I invite all women and allies to join us for the next chapter of the journey to empower women in technology. Follow us on social media to stay tuned to opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

Thanks to the organizers, the volunteers, and the participants for your tireless dedication to inclusion and diversity in tech. I am inspired by you daily and can’t wait to see everything you can do as Women of Cisco.

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