Share a Tweet, Be a Global Problem Solver for Women

International Women’s Day isn’t just a day to celebrate the many social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women; it’s an opportunity to be a global problem solver for women around the world.

On Wednesday, March 8, Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is embracing the theme of International Women’s Day, #BeBoldForChange, by hosting its first ever Social Sharing Campaign — a 24-hour Twitter event to raise up to $25,000 for three of our nonprofit partners.

How can I participate?

To join the Social Sharing Campaign, log on to Twitter at any time between midnight and midnight on International Women’s Day (Wednesday, March 8). Then, share any of Cisco CSR’s tweets around Opportunity International, Water for People, or TechBridge by retweeting the post. For every tweet shared during that timeframe, we will donate $1, up to $25,000 to be divided among the three organizations.

Remember, the more a tweet is shared, the larger its audience. With the simple press of a button or tap of your phone’s screen, you can be a global problem solver for women around the world. One dollar can go a long way in empowering an entrepreneur, providing clean water to families, or bringing STEM education to classrooms.

Who am I helping?

Opportunity International

Opportunity International promotes financial inclusion—helping people become financially independent and economically self-sufficient—by providing access to affordable and relevant financial products and services. In many cases, this means more than helping those in poverty start their own business; they often need help providing food, housing, and healthcare for their families, as well as education for their children.

80% of the people Opportunity International reaches are women.

Cisco is working with Opportunity International to develop digitization solutions to increase efficiency and support the scale of financial services to more people, collect and evaluate data for improved decision making and better impact, and leverage technology to connect more people to resources, things, and other people.

Water for People

Water For People provides access to safe and reliable drinking water and sanitation, with a goal to secure permanent access to safe drinking water for 30 districts in nine countries by 2018. The organization empowers local governments, community members, and service providers to invest in the long-term solutions and systems that are right for them.

Women and girls often spend up to 6 hours each day collecting water. This reduces the time they can spend in school or working.

Cisco has supported the development of technology solutions to enable the collection and analysis of monitoring data from the field. These solutions promote transparency and accountability of organizations working to increase access to water and sanitation, while also increasing the organizations’ efficiency and effectiveness in bringing water to four million people.

TechBridge

TechBridge aims to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM). The U.S. nonprofit’s after-school programs span three Bay Area, California school districts and provide training to bring STEM teaching to after-school and summer programs.

98% of parents say that because of Techbridge, their daughters’ confidence in STEM has grown.

TechBridge’s “See It, Be It” digital career exploration tool connects girls across the United States to trained role models who engage and inspire them in STEM. Through Techbridge partners, programs, and collaborations—including 25 Girl Scout councils across the country—”See It, Be It” aims to inspire 100,000 girls to pursue STEM careers by 2017.

We hope you’ll join us in acting as global problem solvers for women. Follow Cisco CSR on Twitter and be sure to participate in the campaign on March 8, International Women’s Day!