Cisco Foundation
Tech-enabled solutions for a healthy planet and thriving communities
About Us
The Cisco Foundation was established in 1997 by a gift from Cisco Systems, Inc. Together with Cisco Social Impact Investments, the Foundation aims to catalyze a vibrant ecosystem of changemakers working to positively impact people and communities around the world.
Vision and Mission
We envision a world of equitable, resilient, and empowered communities where everyone can reach their full potential and thrive. Our mission is to partner with organizations to create and scale innovative digital solutions that promote a healthy planet and advance the well-being and self-reliance of underserved communities globally. We accomplish this by harnessing the breadth of Cisco’s offerings of strategic guidance, catalytic funding, technology donations, and support from the Cisco community.
Theory of change
Our Theory of Change illustrates our guiding principles, our offerings, and how these offerings drive measurable outcomes and impact toward our vision and mission.
Cisco Foundation’s FY24 Impact Report
Dive deeper into the Cisco Foundation’s vision, mission, and unique approach to social impact – and experience the progress, partnerships, and impact we created in Fiscal Year 2024.
Our priority social impact sectors
We focus on investing in innovative, tech-enabled solutions to the challenges and opportunities that matter most to communities in need, prioritizing four social impact sectors:
Cisco Crisis Response
Mobilizing to provide essentials to communities in need and those in crisis, including food, housing, secure connectivity, and disaster relief
Education
Supporting students, teachers, and schools by increasing engagement, building skills, promoting subject mastery, and expanding their capacity to thrive
Economic Empowerment
Transforming communities through skill development, long-term career opportunities, entrepreneurship, and access to financial products and services
Climate Regeneration
Building an inclusive, regenerative, and resilient climate future through education, regenerative agriculture, conservation/protection, and clean energy solutions
Types of funding
We bring the best of Cisco to our partners through a mix of funding, strategic guidance, and technology -- helping highpotential organizations scale their tech-enabled solutions for maximum social impact.
Catalytic funding via grants and impact investments: Our unique investment model is designed to fill a critical gap in funding for high-potential organizations.
We identify those with early-stage, tech-enabled solutions that we believe have the potential to scale exponentially and deliver extraordinary impact across our four priority social impact sectors. We provide early-stage, seed-level funding to high potential organizations to design, create, test, and scale technology enabled and delivered solutions that can result in deep impact.
We invest in both non-profit and for-profit innovators:
- Global Impact Grants: Funding to non-profits leveraging technology to deliver programs and opportunities that can be replicated and scaled at a country, regional, and/or global level. Learn how to apply.
- Regional Solution Grants: Funding to non-profits leveraging technology to deliver programs and opportunities within a specific community or country. (By invitation only.)
- Habitat for Humanity grants: Providing support to Habitat affiliates for home builds housing families in need around the world. (By invitation only.)
- Impact investments for climate solutions: Funding investments in early-stage climate companies, from Pre-Seed to Series A, in support of our $100M climate commitment. Explore climate investments.
Strategic guidance: We do more than just write a check. As a technology company with a long history of innovation, we share the best of Cisco’s strategic expertise with our partners, providing ongoing support to help them advance promising ideas to pilot project to proven concept, and then to replicate and scale for maximum impact.
Technology investments: We also find that the same Cisco technologies that deliver maximum impact for our business customers work equally well for our partner organizations. Our partners and other qualifying nonprofit organizations can tap into Cisco’s Technology Grant Program so they can secure connect and deliver their programs, get better data and insights into their business operations, and improve their productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. This program is funded solely by Cisco, Inc.
Foundation Leadership
Power an inclusive future for all
We pursue our purpose by closing the digital divide, empowering the future of work, fighting for equality and social justice, and building a regenerative planet.