Cisco established the Fighting Racism and Discrimination Fund in 2017 to elevate organizations, including Public Allies, working for social justice. Cisco employees have been invited to contribute to the Fund and over 3,000 have answered the call, raising hundreds of thousands in donations and Cisco Foundation matching in support of this important work.
On June 1, amidst a summer of Black Lives Matter demonstrations and consciousness-raising in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Cisco Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins announced an additional $5 Million in corporate investments in organizations fighting racism and discrimination.
Public Allies has received support from both efforts: employee donations and matching from the Fund, and a corporate grant as part of the $5 Million commitment. Each gift supports our ongoing efforts to dismantle systems of inequity, racism, and oppression in our country by helping young people—mostly of color and many of them Black—find their voice and step into their leadership.
Public Allies is grateful to Cisco for leading the way with their strong commitment to racial justice. We are looking forward to our ongoing partnership.
About Public Allies
For 27 years, Public Allies has been a pioneer in identifying, developing, and deploying high-impact leaders (aka Allies) from marginalized communities. Our flagship program, a ten-month AmeriCorps apprenticeship, has helped thousands of young adults discover, develop, and leverage their potential, and learn how to apply creative problem-solving skills to systemic challenges. Individually and collectively, they’ve shaped culture, changed policies, and transformed communities across the country. We work in 24 cities and have 8,000 alumni. Eighty percent of our Allies are people of color, sixty percent are women and seventy percent work in the communities from which they come. Combating social injustice is core to who we are.