Bennett School was based in 1873 within the basement of St. Matthews Methodist Episcopal Church in Greensboro, NC. They’re certainly one of solely two all-women, Traditionally Black School and Universities (HBCUs) in the US — and their mission is to arrange “ladies of colour by means of a transformative liberal arts schooling to steer with goal, integrity, and a powerful sense of self-worth.” I encourage you to learn extra about their wealthy “herstory” in honor of Girls’s Historical past Month.

At Cisco, we’ve taken appreciable steps to battle injustice and inequity all over the world. One of the crucial highly effective examples of the daring actions we’re taking is our $150 million dedication to protect the legacy and sustainability of HBCUs by means of Social Justice Motion 8.

Whereas that dedication contains driving expertise modernization and enhancing STEM schooling at HBCUs, Cisco is actively investing into the way forward for their college students as properly — and I’m proud to say that these investments continued earlier this month at Bennett School.

We’re constructing a bridge with Bennett School

Bennett School has been a non-public, four-year traditionally black liberal arts faculty for girls since 1926. Over the course of our relationship, we have now labored to determine Bennett School as a Networking Academy, supplied pupil recruiting help, provided steering on funding grants, and helped improve their community safety for distant studying by means of a Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Know-how (NIST) Evaluation. As well as, Bennett School has requested mentorship, job shadowing, and visitor lectures by Cisco professionals to arrange Bennett college students for all times after faculty. These alternatives align with Motion 8 initiatives and can allow Cisco to proceed to help the sustainability and legacy of Bennett School.

Girls of colour typically face racism and discrimination in tutorial {and professional} environments. HBCUs like Bennett School provide the benefit of offering a supportive, inclusive, and justice-oriented method to schooling. Bennett School operationalizes pupil help by means of particular convocations, lectures, and seminars that comprise their Educational Cultural Enrichment Sequence (ACES) sequence, which is designed to boost the cultural and mental improvement of the scholar inhabitants. Cisco’s dedication to delivering pupil success, accelerating younger AA/B expertise, and making a long-lasting affect for generations to return offers a wonderful basis for a symbiotic partnership with Bennett School and augments pupil help.

Because the Government Sponsor for Bennett School, I labored with Wesley Carter, CX Sr. Program Supervisor, and Bennett School to create an ACES occasion that delivered an necessary message to Bennett’s liberal arts college students:

  You don’t should main within the pc sciences area to be useful to a expertise firm like Cisco! 

It’s a robust message, and one which we are able to frequently construct upon to indicate Bennett college students that even entry-level digital and cybersecurity abilities can improve their aggressive edge, it doesn’t matter what they select for his or her profession path. Dr. Santiba Campbell, Director of Educational Particular Initiatives for Bennett School, instructed an all-woman panel and concentrate on liberal arts, as a substitute of STEM, as a result of Bennett School is predominately a liberal arts faculty.

An summary of our Girls in Cisco Panel Dialogue in March of 2023 

One of the crucial necessary features of this occasion was the evidence-based method. It was kicked off by our personal Shaina Tamburr, VP, CX Packages & Compliance, and featured a panel of various, liberal arts-educated, profitable ladies from completely different areas inside Cisco — starting from undertaking administration to gross sales and advertising and marketing. These profitable ladies got here collectively to share their distinctive profession tales and life experiences, in addition to welcome Bennett School’s liberal arts college students to interact with Cisco. We doubled down on Cisco’s dedication to pupil success by inviting our Rising Expertise Range Engagement Group to create a portal particularly for college kids to add their resume and be thought of for future Cisco alternatives!

The connection between the audio system and college students was palpable — and after sharing their tales, our panelists had an opportunity to reply these insightful questions in entrance of scholars:

• What has been probably the most important barrier in your profession? 
• How have mentors helped you develop as a pacesetter? What was your path to get there? 
• What recommendation would you give your 21-year-old self? 

Because the occasion concluded, the scholars have been supplied with contact data for all of the panelists so they might attain out and ask questions to arrange themselves for a profession within the tech business.

This was an unimaginable occasion for Bennett School

The Girls in Cisco occasion was successful for Bennett School as a result of it supplied college students with useful insights into working within the tech business, in addition to a chance to community with profitable liberal arts majors — together with two alumnae from Bennett School!

However most of all, this was an ideal step in strengthening the connection between Bennett School and Cisco:

“I hope each of you’re doing properly and nonetheless glowing from an ideal expertise Friday at Bennett School! Thanks for the entire exhausting work in planning, organizing and speaking for the Girls in Cisco ACES panel. I stay up for extra alternatives and sponsorships for us to work collectively.”
— Dr. Santiba Campbell, Director of Educational Particular Initiatives, Bennett School

I’m genuinely proud to be a part of an organization that’s dedicated to not solely creating alternative and publicity within the IT area to non-technical college students, but additionally to the strategic restoration, sustainability, and legacy of HBCUs like Bennett School.

Let’s proceed to work collectively to energy an inclusive future for all by figuring out extra methods to rework our beliefs into motion, particularly as we have a good time Girls’s Historical past Month.

Register now for our upcoming Girls Rock-IT occasion to find out how
superb ladies are utilizing expertise to deal with local weather change.

 April twenty seventh, 2023

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