Scott McGregor shares his experiences in forging a brand new partnership with Iḷisaġvik Faculty in Utqiaġvik, Alaska – a unprecedented neighborhood that’s breaking down boundaries to create new entry to schooling, know-how, and alternative.
Standing close to the highest of the world, I’ve by no means felt nearer to Cisco’s function.
The bottom feels completely different right here in Utqiaġvik, Alaska – previously often called Barrow. Situated north of the Arctic Circle, Utqiaġvik is the northernmost city in the US.
From the place I stand on the shore of a sea that’s frozen for a lot of the 12 months, I’m getting a way of the outstanding historical past of a land that has been residence to the Iñupiaq individuals for hundreds of years and the challenges they’ve overcome to maintain their neighborhood for millennia.
Immediately, the residents of Utqiaġvik face a rising problem– integrating the tradition and values of the previous with the technological advances and information wanted to protect their tradition and thrive in a altering, world financial system.
That is what powering an inclusive future for all appears like.
Robust neighborhood – important challenges
I’ve come to Utqiaġvik with a small group representing Cisco’s Social Justice Motion Workplace and our Native American Community Worker Useful resource Group.
We’re right here to discover methods we are able to companion to interrupt down boundaries and create entry to schooling, know-how, and alternative.
The challenges are important right here.
Think about residing in a spot so distant it could actually solely be accessed by airplane, the place the summer season solar doesn’t dip under the horizon for 82 straight days, and after it dips under the horizon for the final time every November, it doesn’t seem once more till January.
Think about residing in a spot the place dependable entry to trendy conveniences like contemporary produce and heating gas are a problem. And restricted entry to broadband makes it troublesome to entry vital providers like schooling and healthcare in addition to preserve a dependable connection to the remainder of the world.
The distant location and the tough situations aren’t the one boundaries. Utqiaġvik is on the entrance strains of local weather change. The rising sea is claiming land at an alarming tempo. Boundaries now block elements of a street that after encircled the city.
If not now – when?
Strolling among the many individuals, it’s clear to me that regardless of the tough situations the Iñupiaq are already thriving. Communities around the globe have one thing to study from the vibrance of this tradition.
We’re not right here for a aid effort. We’re not right here to put in writing a test. We’re right here to do what Cisco does finest – join the unconnected – and reimagine what’s attainable by these connections.
To achieve true proximity and perceive the distinctive mixture of challenges going through this neighborhood – discovering new methods to bridge distance and distinction to create an inclusive future.
This proximity – and this partnership – is central to how Cisco fulfills its Objective to energy an inclusive future for all. And why we created the Social Justice Actions to discover methods of making true impression in underserved communities.
The trail ahead – breaking down boundaries to schooling
On the coronary heart of this distant neighborhood is Iḷisaġvik Faculty, considered one of solely 35 accredited tribal faculties in the US and the one tribal faculty situated in Alaska. The president of the school, Justina Wilhelm, grew up locally and talks about how the varsity is “unapologetically Inupiaq” which means the Inupiaq lifestyle, primarily based on a wealthy basis of a subsistence tradition with the land and sea, guided by Inupiaq values is woven into their curriculum and every day interactions.
Iḷisaġvik Faculty has a contemporary IT infrastructure. However like many underserved academic establishments within the United Sates, there have been some gaps, primarily across the faculty’s cybersecurity readiness.
Resolving these gaps is vital. In 2023, the Federal authorities created requirements requiring all faculties receiving federal funding be Nationwide Institute of Requirements Expertise (NIST) cybersecurity compliant. For faculties like Iḷisaġvik Faculty, funding these upgrades presents a serious problem and will finally decide if they may proceed to function.
By Cisco’s dedication to social justice, which ensures minority serving establishments throughout the nation stay cybersecurity compliant, Cisco and its ecosystem of companions have engaged Iḷisaġvik Faculty and carried out a NIST evaluation to determine know-how gaps after which donated the know-how and providers required to deliver them into cybersecurity compliance. Iḷisaġvik Faculty is the second tribal faculty to learn from this initiative which positions them to serve their local people in addition to college students who take their programs globally, nicely into the long run.
The perfect-in-class cybersecurity options carried out at Iḷisaġvik featured the Cisco Meraki MX – a multifunctional all-in-one machine that delivers ease of deployment, distant administration, and state-of-the artwork options. This distinctive mixture of advantages is crucial to empowering the brand new future the school envisions for college kids, college, and the broader neighborhood.
Bringing the alternatives right here
The partnership between Iḷisaġvik Faculty and Cisco is even deeper than cybersecurity compliance and know-how modernization. Along with supporting the IT infrastructure and connectivity, we might be providing our Cisco Networking Academy coursework, which can permit learners to acquire certifications in cybersecurity and networking that may make them extra aggressive for jobs, together with distant jobs.
This implies residents will be capable of keep of their neighborhood and earn a aggressive wage within the cybersecurity and networking fields.
This can be a vital facet of the trail ahead the neighborhood is creating. Alternatives to remain in Utqiaġvik and to proceed to be “unapologetically Iñupiaq” whereas tapping right into a vibrant digital job market made attainable by connectivity.
Classes realized from the highest of the world
Once I launched into this journey, I wasn’t anticipating it to be some of the profound experiences of my profession.
Whereas I used to be in some of the distant locations on earth, I discovered a welcoming neighborhood that jogged my memory how vital it’s to get proximate to a neighborhood to completely perceive its wants earlier than offering options.
I found a brand new sense of what’s attainable by strolling alongside individuals with a historical past of residing on the prime of world for hundreds of years.
I got here away impressed and energized, figuring out that Cisco’s purpose-driven work has by no means been extra vital – or extra related to what issues most in communities around the globe.
As Cisco begins the final 12 months of our five-year exploration in driving Social Justice, our work – and the impression we’re creating with communities – will proceed to increase due to what we’ve realized right here.
Preserving the previous – partnering for the long run. Cisco’s journey continues.
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