Cisco commits 225 million US dollars to global pandemic challenge response

Cisco recently announced it is committing 225 million US dollars in cash, in-kind, and planned-giving to support both the global and local response to COVID-19.

In addition, the company is rallying their 77,000 employees and encourage them to give what they can to help our community partners on the front lines bolster their operations in this time of need.

Supporting Global Efforts

The company assigns 8 million US dollars in cash and 210 million US dollars in product to the global coronavirus response. “We are focusing these resources on supporting healthcare and education, government response and critical technology. Part of this will go to the United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, supporting the World Health Organization’s (WHO) worldwide efforts to help prevent, detect, and manage the spread of COVID-19,” the company statement reads.

Through their Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program, the company is providing funding for heads of state, government agencies, and businesses to rapidly deploy COVID-19-related technology solutions. “We are also empowering those on the front lines with access to our critical technologies with our free Webex and Security offers. To date, we are helping to secure over 2.2 million people online, and Webex has facilitated virtual response meetings for the French, Canadian, German, Colombian, and other governments around the world.”

Supporting Nonprofits

The company has also established several funds to support a range of nongovernmental organizations in APJC, EMEAR, the Americas, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Additionally, we are launching a 72-hour employee giving campaign – “Let’s Give Together”

“I am so excited to see our teams work together virtually to support these causes. To support this, Cisco Foundation has launched an employee matching gift campaign of up to 4 million US dollars in total giving, and is allocating 1 million US dollars in additional grants to help nonprofit partners,” says Chuck Robbins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cisco Systems, Inc.