Bennett School was based in 1873 within the basement of St. Matthews Methodist Episcopal Church in Greensboro, NC. They’re one in every of solely two all-women, Traditionally Black School and Universities (HBCUs) in the USA — and their mission is to organize “girls of shade by way of a transformative liberal arts training to guide with function, integrity, and a powerful sense of self-worth.” I encourage you to learn extra about their wealthy “herstory” in honor of Ladies’s Historical past Month.
At Cisco, we’ve taken appreciable steps to combat injustice and inequity world wide. Probably the most highly effective examples of the daring actions we’re taking is our $150 million dedication to protect the legacy and sustainability of HBCUs by way of Social Justice Motion 8.
Whereas that dedication contains driving know-how modernization and bettering STEM training 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 personal, four-year traditionally black liberal arts school for girls since 1926. Over the course of our relationship, we have now labored to determine Bennett School as a Networking Academy, supplied scholar recruiting help, provided steering on funding grants, and helped improve their community safety for distant studying by way 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 organize Bennett college students for all times after school. These alternatives align with Motion 8 initiatives and can allow Cisco to proceed to help the sustainability and legacy of Bennett School.
Ladies of shade usually face racism and discrimination in educational {and professional} environments. HBCUs like Bennett School supply the benefit of offering a supportive, inclusive, and justice-oriented method to training. Bennett School operationalizes scholar help by way of particular convocations, lectures, and seminars that comprise their Educational Cultural Enrichment Collection (ACES) sequence, which is designed to boost the cultural and mental growth of the scholar inhabitants. Cisco’s dedication to delivering scholar success, accelerating younger AA/B expertise, and making a long-lasting affect for generations to come back offers a wonderful basis for a symbiotic partnership with Bennett School and augments scholar 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 essential message to Bennett’s liberal arts college students:
You don’t should main within the pc sciences discipline to be beneficial to a know-how firm like Cisco!
It’s a strong message, and one which we will 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, urged 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 school.
An summary of our Ladies in Cisco Panel Dialogue in March of 2023
Probably the most essential points of this occasion was the evidence-based method. It was kicked off by our personal Shaina Tamburr, VP, CX Applications & Compliance, and featured a panel of various, liberal arts-educated, profitable girls from totally different areas inside Cisco — starting from undertaking administration to gross sales and advertising and marketing. These profitable girls 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 scholar success by inviting our Rising Expertise Variety 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 frontrunner? What was your path to get there?
- What recommendation would you give your 21-year-old self?
Because the occasion concluded, the scholars had been supplied with contact data for all of the panelists so they might attain out and ask questions to organize themselves for a profession within the tech trade.
This was an unbelievable occasion for Bennett School
The Ladies in Cisco occasion was a hit for Bennett School as a result of it supplied college students with beneficial insights into working within the tech trade, in addition to a possibility to community with profitable liberal arts majors — together with two alumnae from Bennett School!
However most of all, this was an amazing step in strengthening the connection between Bennett School and Cisco:
“I hope each of you’re doing properly and nonetheless glowing from an amazing expertise Friday at Bennett School! Thanks for all the arduous work in planning, organizing and speaking for the Ladies 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 discipline 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 remodel our beliefs into motion, particularly as we have a good time Ladies’s Historical past Month.
Register now for our upcoming Ladies Rock-IT occasion to learn the way
superb girls are utilizing know-how to deal with local weather change.
April twenty seventh, 2023
Audio system included Shaina Tamburr, Claudia Kittredge, and Wesley Carter.
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