Cisco engages with governments at many different levels to help shape public policy and regulations that support the technology sector and help governments meet their goals.
Cisco's Global Government Affairs team develops and influences pro-technology public policies and regulations.
Working collaboratively with industry stakeholders and association partners, the team builds relationships with government leaders to influence policies that affect Cisco's business and overall ICT adoption, looking to help shape policy decisions at a global, national, and local level.
The Government Affairs team is comprised of former elected officials, parliamentarians, regulators, senior U.S. government officials, and government affairs professionals who help Cisco promote and protect the use of technology around the world.
Current policy priorities include:
We maintain an active High Tech Policy blog, and a Twitter feed (@ciscopubpolicy) where we discuss public policy issues that are important to our business and provide insights into how we are working toward our policy goals. The blog and twitter feed detail Cisco's positions on, and advocacy efforts for, policy priorities including those listed above and others such as education and cybersecurity. This allows all of our stakeholders to follow the conversations as well as contribute through comments and other social media interactions.
Cisco employees are guided by our Code of Business Conduct, which stipulates expectations regarding political activities and interactions with government entities and their employees or representatives.
We also collaborate with peers and industry organizations to build trust and develop strong relationships with government leaders through industry associations around the world. We disclose updates on our public policy efforts annually through Cisco's Corporate Social Responsibility Report, which can be found at http://csr.cisco.com/pages/csr-reports.
Political Support
Cisco does not make political contributions to candidates for U.S. federal or state elective office, nor does Cisco make contributions to political parties or other committees for the purpose of influencing the election of candidates to federal, state, or local public office.
Cisco also does not engage in independent expenditures or electioneering communications, nor do we make payments to trade associations or other industry groups to be used specifically for political purposes. To ensure that trade associations, industry groups and other politically active tax-exempt organizations, such as those organized under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)4, comply with this policy, Cisco informs all of its groups of this restriction by written communication on an annual basis.
We occasionally make corporate contributions in support of U.S. local and state ballot measures on issues such as transportation or education that affect our operations. Cisco fully complies with all reporting requirements regarding such contributions and will also disclose such contributions on this webpage on a quarterly basis. In addition, Cisco will review with the Board of Directors the Company's political contributions on at least an annual basis.
For the first quarter of Cisco's 2016 fiscal year (July 26 - October 24, 2015), no corporate contributions were made in support of any state or local ballot initiative.
Employee Political Action Committee
Cisco's employee-sponsored political action committee (ePAC) enables eligible U.S. employees to contribute to the campaigns of U.S. federal and state elected officials and political candidates who champion the technology industry's public policy priorities.
All campaign contributions made by Cisco's ePAC are made according to a plan that supports Cisco's policy objectives and is approved annually by the ePAC board.
ePAC Board members include:
Mark Chandler
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Debbie Dunnam
Senior Vice President, Americas Services
Michael Glickman
Senior Vice President, Americas Service Providers
Ed Paradise
Vice President of Development for Cisco's Global Government Solutions Group; Executive Sponsor for Cisco's North American Connected Sites; Site Executive for Cisco's Research Triangle Park Site
Don Proctor
Senior Vice President, Office of the President and COO
Michael Timmeny
Chair, ePAC Board and Vice President, Global Government Affairs
Contributions made by ePAC are public and transparent. ePAC's contributions are reported online by the Federal Election Commission (www.fec.gov) and California Secretary of State. (http://www.sos.ca.gov/)
We encourage civic engagement and provide educational opportunities for employees on specific issues as well as opportunities to meet with political
candidates through town hall meetings and other forums.
Collaborating with Industry Organizations
We collaborate with peers to build trust and develop strong working relationships with government leaders through industry associations, including:
Cisco's Government Affairs organization reports directly to Karen Walker, Cisco Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, and a member of Cisco's executive leadership team. Additionally, Cisco's Board of Directors participates in regular discussions among the Board and with Cisco's senior management of many core subjects, including strategy, operations, finance, and legal and public policy matters.