SYDNEY -- 29 August 2000 -- Cisco Systems Australia & New Zealand has entered into a pioneering partnership with The Smith Family under which the two organisations will work closely to assist disadvantaged Australians. The relationship is the first under Cisco's new Community Investment Partnership program.
In addition to providing direct financial support to the national community services provider, Cisco will donate equipment and expertise to help The Smith Family improve both its educational services for clients and internal communications systems.
Cisco will also encourage its staff to further help The Smith Family in a voluntary capacity and seek additional support from its own business partners.
"What is unique about this partnership is that we agreed to work together then sat down and planned the whole program based on what we needed and what Cisco felt it could best provide," says Elaine Henry, Chief Executive of The Smith Family.
"We believe this is a new and effective way of corporate sponsors working with community organisations that could become a model for others."
The first stage of the project will commence in September and is scheduled to run for at least six months. Cisco began talking to The Smith Family after an internal staff survey revealed that 70 per cent of Cisco's Australian employees personally donated money to charity.
The survey also found that 35 per cent volunteered time to community organisations but that many wished they could do more.
"There are many areas in which Cisco and its people can help The Smith Family," says Mr Terry Walsh, Cisco Systems Australia & New Zealand Managing Director.
"These range from improving the company's communications network through to creating e-learning and certification opportunities for disadvantaged students. Our staff can also help mentor students and teach them about the Internet."
Virtual Learning and Communication Centre
A key development project for Cisco and The Smith Family will be the creation of an online Virtual Learning and Communication Centre featuring a range of educational resources and communications facilities for disadvantaged students.
Included will be areas where students can communicate with mentors and each other. There will also be special 'tutorial areas' where students and teachers can view common software tools such as Word and Excel as they work through issues.
Under its Learning for Life program, The Smith Family provides support to more than 8,000 students. However, it estimates that there are 700,000 students between the ages of 5 and 18 living below the poverty line and wants to expand its reach to 70,000 such disadvantaged individuals by 2004.
Network upgrade
The Smith Family is a large and growing organisation with annual turnover in 1998/99 of $66.3 million, 650 paid staff and 1,500 volunteers located in 21 offices nationwide. It assists more than 200,000 individuals annually and every Christmas distributes more than 20,000 hampers and 60,000 toys.
It is also seeing its role expand beyond emergency services to more information-centric, preventative areas such as research, public advocacy, counselling and, as above, education. Under the new partnership, Cisco will be helping The Smith Family to review and restructure its voice and data communications systems. It will also provide related training and ongoing technical support.
"Our internal communications systems must be as sophisticated as those at any large company," explains Ms Henry. "We also have an opportunity to use the Internet much more effectively within our organisation and in making our services more widely accessible to the Australians we serve."
About The Smith Family
The Smith Family is an independent Australian social enterprise serving the disadvantaged in the community since 1922. The organisation delivers a wide range of emergency assistance, life skills and education services nationally. In the 1998/99 financial year, The Smith Family turned over $66.3 million, had 650 paid staff, 1,500 volunteers and helped 200,000 children and adults. For more information see: www.smithfamily.org.au.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco news and information are available at www.cisco.com.
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