Cisco pledges $100 million to become more active in social justice

Another big corporation joins the social injustice battle

Yesterday the Bank of America raised $2 billion as a supportive measure for the Black and Hispanic minorities, and Cisco followed up by revealing a social-justice platform, pledging to grow the global Black representatives among its offices by 2023.

The company aims to increase the number of people of color for the employee-through-manager level by 25%, while the top management will be increased to 75%.

Based on a 2019 company diversity report, only 3.8% of its US employees were Black. The rate is under 2.2% for management and VP levels, with no people of color in an executive position.

Cisco was subjected to controversy after firing a couple of employees who commented against the #Black Lives Matter movement during a video-meeting, stating that those representatives "did not live up to our values as a company."

The company will launch a $50 million venture-capital fund named #Aspire Fund, investing in start-ups to increase partner variety, while scholarships for historically black colleges and universities will be granted other $50 million, over 5 years.

However, markets weren’t impressed with what Cisco set in motion, closing the trading session 2.64% lower.

Sources: marketwatch.com, finance.yahoo.com