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Brian Tippens

Senior Vice President

Chief Social Impact & Inclusion Officer

Brian Tippens is Senior Vice President and Chief Social Impact & Inclusion Officer at Cisco. In this role, Brian is responsible for advancing Cisco's social impact across communities around the world, creating tangible business value, and fueling Cisco’s purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All. As head of the Social Impact & Inclusion Organization, Brian oversees the Cisco functions taking on the most critical challenges facing our planet, society, and vulnerable, underserved communities. His organization includes the Cisco Foundation, Crisis Response, Economic Empowerment, Employee Community Impact, Accessibility, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Social Justice. The Social Impact & Inclusion Organization brings together the unique strengths of Cisco’s people, technology, innovation, and ecosystem to address systemic causes of inequity, break down barriers, and create lasting generational change. Brian is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the fields of social justice, diversity, and sustainability. He is a World Economic Forum (WEF) Contributor, a proud member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), and he has served as a director or advisor to several organizations including Operation HOPE, the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC), Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME). Brian’s career spans over 30 years of leadership in the IT industry. Before coming to Cisco, Brian served as Chief Sustainability Officer at HPE and President of the HPE Foundation. He previously spent five years as HP/HPE’s Chief Diversity Officer, reporting to the Chief People Officer. Brian is a purpose-driven leader who is committed to social justice and broad advocacy on the most pressing issues facing our communities. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of San Francisco, and a Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. Brian and his wife live in Houston, Texas and are parents of three adult children.

Articles

November 4, 2024

PARTNER

Partnering for Purpose Winners: 7th Global Partner Innovation Challenge

3 min read

Celebrate the winners of Cisco's 7th Global Partner Innovation Challenge: Partnering for Purpose, showcasing impactful solutions in climate change, digital inclusion, and more. Discover their innovations and our shared commitment to a brighter future.

October 29, 2024

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Cisco Crisis Response: Reinstating Connectivity to Communities Impacted by Hurricane Helene

3 min read

The Cisco Crisis Response (CCR) team has responded to over 100 incidents across disasters and humanitarian efforts in 38 countries, providing secure connectivity for emergency response agencies and aid organizations to carry out life-saving activities after a crisis - most recently with Hurricane Helene.

October 31, 2024

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Beyond Philanthropy: The Cisco Foundation’s Commitment to Thriving Communities

3 min read

In the Cisco Foundation’s FY24 Impact Report, we dive deeper into our investment model, our partnership approach, how we define and measure impact, and highlights of the results we achieved over the past year.

October 15, 2024

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Cisco’s Vision for an Inclusive Future

3 min read

Cisco is ushering in a new era of impact and simplifying our organization by bringing together the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Social Impact teams as one.

December 12, 2023

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

The Next One Billion Lives

3 min read

Our ability to impact billions of lives lies in our ability to scale. We’re now expanding our areas of focus to impact entire communities through our Social Impact, Networking Academy, and Country Digital Acceleration programs — to address systemic causes of inequity through innovation and create lasting, generational change.

November 21, 2023

PARTNER

Cisco partners drive innovation through Purpose

2 min read

We were excited to introduce a new Partnering for Purpose category in our 6th annual global Partner Innovation Challenge. The new category awards $25K (USD) prizes to partners that best showcase how they are integrating innovation with purpose within four areas of focus.