At Cisco, giving again is greater than a core worth; it’s a solution to lead by constructing connections, deepening empathy, and contributing to one thing larger than your self. Throughout the Americas (North, Central, and South America), and in collaboration with regional worker engagement champions, every year we host our Americas Associate Group (APO) Giving Again Week.
Launched in June 2023, this program brings collectively Cisco Associate Group groups across the Americas to collectively give again and make a distinction. We prolong and amplify our optimistic affect by together with our channel companions within the efforts. One stellar instance of those efforts comes from our workforce in Mexico. Learn on to be taught extra.
The Mexico Associate Group Units a Customary
Inside Cisco’s LATAM area, the Mexico Associate Group is a shining instance relating to neighborhood affect efforts. In mid-2024, the workforce, led by mission supervisor Jennifer Ortiz, collaborated with our enterprise companions Connext and Evox to create actual affect for La Cana, a social enterprise that helps incarcerated ladies and people transitioning again into society.
Why La Cana? Jennifer explains, “We needed to companion with a company the place our help can be significant. In Mexico, my residence nation, the subject of ladies in jail is considerably taboo, and organizations that help incarcerated ladies are likely to get ignored. With doubtlessly much less visibility than different forms of organizations, we felt that La Cana may enormously profit from our volunteerism and help.”
In flip, 30 volunteers—18 from our companions and 12 from the LATAM Mexico Associate Group—got down to ship significant change amongst La Cana’s shoppers via three impactful initiatives.
Supporting Girls in Chalco Jail
On Could 10, 2024 (Mom’s Day in Mexico), our volunteers visited 75 ladies at Chalco ladies’s jail, bringing hygiene kits and—equally (if no more) necessary—moments of connection and dignity. The workforce selected this location as a result of it was farther from town, and on common, its inmates obtain fewer guests. “I had by no means been to a penitentiary, so I used to be very apprehensive,” shared Jennifer. “I didn’t know what to anticipate however interacting with the ladies was an amazing lesson in empathy and perspective. We didn’t see them for his or her alleged crimes, however as fellow people. It was a robust studying second for me.”
Jennifer additionally shared how great it was to convey happiness to the ladies. “Though we weren’t household, these ladies have been extraordinarily grateful to have us as guests. You possibly can see the enjoyment and hope it introduced them, as smiles on their faces.”
Constructing energy and self-sufficiency within the “Casa Medio Camino” Upon launch from jail, some ladies don’t have household to return to or a spot to remain, as they’re typically disowned or ostracized for his or her crimes. To assist mitigate this situation, La Cana has established “Casa Medio Camino”, a midway home for ladies leaving jail, to offer shelter and help. As a part of APO Giving Again Week 2024, our volunteers rolled up their sleeves to assist create a snug place for the residents. Collectively, they:
- Established a neighborhood backyard and donated seeds to help long-term meals cultivation.
- Renovated a number of areas inside the constructing to create welcoming, useful areas.
- Donated non-perishable provides to help in quickly housing 20 ladies as they transition again into society.
Enabling Financial Independence
One other side of La Cana’s intervention program is to convey productive actions and vocational coaching to prisons. This permits inmates to amass expertise and instruments to assist them enhance their lives throughout their keep in jail, present an revenue for his or her households, and put together them for all times outdoors of jail. One kind of expertise coaching consists of varied weaving, embroidery, stitching, macramé (an ornamental craft utilizing twine and knotting methods), and textile weaving methods. As a part of our give again, we hosted a sale in our workplaces of hand-made gadgets created by the ladies who’re a part of La Cana. Mixed with our volunteer actions, the cash raised from the sale enabled us to contribute greater than $4,500 USD to fund La Cana’s packages.
Our help of La Cana’s vital initiatives is a testomony to the ability of collaboration. By bringing collectively our workers, companions, and this social enterprise, we’ve confirmed that collective motion can ship tangible, lasting change. And the advantages of our work prolong far past their rapid affect:
- For the neighborhood: Girls in susceptible conditions obtained assets, help, and alternatives to regain their dignity and independence.
- For our companions: Connext and Evox strengthened their social affect methods, reinforcing their dedication to company duty.
- For our workers: Volunteers skilled a profound sense of objective and success, understanding their efforts instantly modified lives.
- For our firm: These efforts deepened our tradition of empathy, strengthened bonds with our companions, and demonstrated our management in driving significant social change.
What’s much more highly effective is the message we ship by prioritizing and collaborating in initiatives like APO Giving Again Week: Giving is a type of management. Let’s proceed to steer with objective and create a brighter future, one neighborhood at a time.
Has your group participated in APO Giving Again Week? If that’s the case, do inform us in regards to the affect you’ve made along with your companions and in your neighborhood.
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