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Gena Pirtle

Veteran & Workforce Programs Manager

Corporate Affairs

Gena Pirtle is a 20-year veteran at Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the Silicon Valley-based worldwide leader in IT. During her tenure, she has been responsible for building strategic public/private partnerships across Cisco’s ecosystem, which have created skills-to-jobs pathways and helped develop world-class tech talent for the digital economy. She has played a key role in implementing creative employment initiatives like “Dream Team” and “Talent Bridge” for the company’s award-winning early-in-career IT education program, Cisco Networking Academy, which has trained over 9 million students across the globe since it began in 1997.

In 2017, Gena expanded her role within Corporate Affairs to include implementing a military veteran training and employment strategy which leverages Cisco’s veteran employee volunteer network, a portfolio of best-in-class IT and cyber training offerings, and Cisco’s vast partner ecosystem to increase access to transitioning military and veteran talent. She currently oversees the roll-out of CyberVetsUSA, a consortium of tech companies (including Cisco, AWS, Palo Alto Networks, NetApp, (ISC)2, NDG and Fortinet) which provides free cyber training and industry certifications to veterans and military spouses to further their path to meaningful employment while addressing the growing shortage of cyber talent. In November 2018, she oversaw the launch of “Talent Bridge for Veterans,” a job-matching platform available to Cisco Channel Partners providing direct access to qualified veteran tech talent based on location, skills, and certifications.

Gena serves on the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Cybersecurity Advisory Board and the Stafford County School District CTE Advisory Committee. She lives in the Washington DC-metro area where she and her family support various veteran and animal welfare charities.

Articles

Opening doors for military members

2 min read

Cisco has several programs available to military members and their spouses to help them find jobs in the IT industry. Find out about SkillBridge, the Veterans Talent Incubation Program (VTIP), and more!

Cisco helps veterans and transitioning military find new careers paths at Cisco

2 min read

Born out of a commitment to veterans and transitioning military, and a desire to create a direct pathway for veterans to work at Cisco - Cisco Talent Incubation Program (CTIP) was created.

Cisco helps military veterans find paths to meaningful employment through partnership with Onward to Opportunity

3 min read

We’re all navigating this fast-changing environment, doing our best to adjust to the rapid shift to remote working and online learning. This can feel even more uncertain for our military and veteran community as they transition to civilian careers. This transition is daunting in any circumstance, but a fragile economy and shifting work dynamics creates even greater barriers for those who are separating from military service. Cisco and Onward to Opportunity have partnered to provide veterans pathways to meaningful employment.

Cisco Offers Military Veterans Free Cybersecurity Training

2 min read

As part of our ongoing efforts to empower and connect military veterans interested in working in the tech field, Cisco’s Veterans Program is excited to announce the Cisco Veterans Cyber Scholarship Program is now accepting applications.

All Eyes on the Cisco Networking Academy Dream Team at Cisco Live


2 min read

Since 2011, the NOC has relied on a group of stellar students hand-picked from Cisco Networking Academy colleges and universities from across North America as an extension of their on-the-ground staff to help with the network deployment for Cisco Live.

Connecting Qualified Veterans to Careers in Technology

2 min read

Cisco’s VTIP is a pipeline for transitioning service members and veterans that provides the skills required for an entry-level Cisco Services engineer role.