2020-October-14

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Conexión: The Bridge to Inclusion

BY GUENEBETH HERNANDEZ ZAMUDIO · CUSTOMS ANALYST · UNITED STATES

As an immigrant to the United States, I love that Cisco takes social justice seriously and actively improves its policies to reflect inclusive values.

One way it does this is through Employee Resources Organizations (EROs) such as Conexión, which serves the Latinx community. I have been a member of Conexión since 2015, when I first arrived at RTP.
I had a powerful experience when volunteering at a local high school. I was one of about 30 Cisco volunteers taking part in a speed mentorship session.

We sat at different tables in the school gym as students stopped by to hear about our careers and their opportunities to learn about STEM. After five minutes, the students moved on to another table with different mentors.

Just as I was about to talk to my first students, a colleague interrupted me to ask if I could speak with students who spoke mostly Spanish. I was happy to! I was excited to interact with othersin my mother tongue.

The pre-teens were full of questions and seemed happy with me too. Even better, when our five minutes were up, I was asked to continue talking with the group since I was the only volunteer who spoke Spanish. I got to spend the rest of the session with them.

It suddenly dawned on me that the kids were probably happy because it felt good to be included in the activity. I wondered how many activities they felt excluded from due to their language barrier.

They confided in me that they struggled with their classes, and that many parents couldn’t help with homework because they could not read and write.

By the end of our session, I learned two things: Representation is important, and we can do more.

We have to do more.

Coming to America

Giving back to the Hispanic community made me think of my own experience of coming to America.

That was 13 years ago. I arrived at Oxford, Mississippi, from Mexico City to get my bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

The higher education programs in the United States are the best in the world, but they’re extremely expensive for immigrants. Besides tuition, meal plans, and housing, we must also pay out-of-state, international fees, and a student visa. That adds up to thousands of dollars per year.

Yet I know I made the right choice to study here.

Besides the quality of education and resources, the biggest investment was the cultural immersion. I learned things large and small — from why health insurance costs so much, to how the phrase “bless your heart” can be an insult in the South.

After graduation, I was lucky enough to gain work experience in the U.S. and Mexico. I continued learning from both countries and, in 2011, I started working with Cisco in Mexico for the Advanced Services organization.

I am the first and only member of my family to live in the U.S. I have come a long way in learning about the U.S. Constitution, business and immigration laws, civil rights, and social justice, among many other things.

Before I came to America, I thought “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” was a reference to a Will Smith movie. Obviously, it’s much more!

Correcting Underrepresentation

Cisco has long fought for diversity and inclusion. The clearest examples are the EROs on campus, which address issues, such as underrepresentation and ways to achieve more inclusion.

Underrepresentation is the underlying factor behind a variety of racial and cultural problems, such as salary gaps, biased policymaking, and gentrification.

I am a member of several EROs, but I am most active in Conexión. I joined it to have a sense of community. I was homesick and didn’t know anyone here.

Conexión has several programs that benefit the local Latinx community. Juan Ramos, the Conexión’s Chapter Lead for RTP, leads university recruitment programs that provide opportunities for minorities.

Internally, Conexión offers a safe space for Cisco employees to address problems of any kind in their everyday lives. It also provides resources to remain competitive, such as resume workshops, webinars, and trainings. If you have something specific on your mind, you can always post a question in Webex Teams and the community will look for a solution.

I encourage everyone to join Conexión. This invite is usually followed by, “But I don’t speak Spanish.” No problem. We speak English too!

We make everyone feel welcome, and we love getting to know new members. It’s not a requirement to have any connection with Latin America. All you need is a willingness to join and hang out with us (virtually in 2020).

In today’s world, adaptability has become a hot commodity in the job market. Immigrants are experts at that.

As author and professor Leon C. Megginson famously wrote: “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”

Whether you’re looking to make a change in yourself or provide positive change in someone else’s life, we are here to help.

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