Laura Quintana

Laura Quintana is Vice President and General Manager of Networking Academy, Cisco’s largest and longest-running Corporate Social Responsibility program. As an innovator, Laura focuses on social responsibility, delivering groundbreaking initiatives that prepare students to participate in the digital workforce and connects them with career opportunities. Her strengths in scaling and accelerating impact helped her and her team grow the Networking Academy to benefit more than 3.7 million students in FY23 (20.5 million since inception) throughout 190 countries with an annual in-kind contribution valued at over $387 million USD. Her leadership at Networking Academy is an extension of her work as a change agent. She cares deeply about diversity and making an impact on peoples’ lives and communities. Her focus includes initiatives targeting educational institutions, economically underserved communities, women and minorities underrepresented in tech, people with disabilities, and justice-impacted individuals. Laura and her team are further expanding Networking Academy’s reach with SkillsforAll.com, a mobile first, self-paced, and gamified experience available direct to learner and via academies. Through her leadership, Networking Academy has become a critical part of country digital readiness, working with ministries of education to further national digital agendas and develop the human capital necessary to support country transformation. Previously, Laura successfully completed Cisco’s multi-year commitment to the Jordan Healthcare Initiative. She strategically collaborated with the Government of Jordan and was instrumental in driving telemedicine, clinical collaboration, and teleradiology projects that enabled quality healthcare services and benefited over 175,000 patients. Previously, Laura held a variety of director-level roles within Cisco’s services organization. Before joining Cisco, Laura served in leadership positions for eleven years with Hewlett-Packard within Product Management and Operations, including a three-year assignment in Grenoble, France. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University. She is an executive sponsor of Conexión, Cisco’s Latinx employee resource organization. She serves as a member of the SER National Board of Directors, Cristo Rey San Jose High School Corporate Work Study Program Board of Directors, San Jose State University Technology Program Industry Advisory Board, Association for Information Systems Industry Advisory Board, and Love Never Fails Advisory Board. Laura was recognized by the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC) as one of the top 100 most influential and notable Hispanic Professionals in the Information Technology Industry, receiving HITEC Top 100 awards for 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2021-2022. She was recognized by Latino Leaders Magazine as one of the 100 most influential Latinas in 2021. She is fluent in Spanish and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband where they raised their three children.