Scott McGregor shares his experiences in forging a brand new partnership with Iḷisaġvik Faculty in Utqiaġvik, Alaska – a rare neighborhood that’s breaking down boundaries to create new entry to training, know-how, and alternative.
Standing close to the highest of the world, I’ve by no means felt nearer to Cisco’s objective.
The bottom feels completely different right here in Utqiaġvik, Alaska – previously referred to as Barrow. Situated north of the Arctic Circle, Utqiaġvik is the northernmost city in the USA.
From the place I stand on the shore of a sea that’s frozen for a lot of the yr, I’m getting a way of the exceptional 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.
At present, the residents of Utqiaġvik face a rising problem– integrating the tradition and values of the previous with the technological advances and data wanted to protect their tradition and thrive in a altering, world economic system.
That is what powering an inclusive future for all seems like.
Sturdy 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 associate to interrupt down boundaries and create entry to training, know-how, and alternative.
The challenges are important right here.
Think about dwelling in a spot so distant it will possibly 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 dwelling in a spot the place dependable entry to trendy conveniences like recent produce and heating gas are a problem. And restricted entry to broadband makes it troublesome to entry vital providers like training and healthcare in addition to keep a dependable connection to the remainder of the world.
The distant location and the cruel circumstances 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. Limitations now block components of a street that when encircled the city.
If not now – when?
Strolling among the many individuals, it’s clear to me that regardless of the cruel circumstances the Iñupiaq are already thriving. Communities all over the world have one thing to be taught from the vibrance of this tradition.
We’re not right here for a reduction effort. We’re not right here to write down a examine. We’re right here to do what Cisco does greatest – join the unconnected – and reimagine what’s potential via these connections.
To realize 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 Function to energy an inclusive future for all. And why we created the Social Justice Actions to discover methods of making true affect in underserved communities.
The trail ahead – breaking down boundaries to training
On the coronary heart of this distant neighborhood is Iḷisaġvik Faculty, considered one of solely 35 accredited tribal schools in the USA and the one tribal school positioned in Alaska. The president of the faculty, Justina Wilhelm, grew up locally and talks about how the college 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 day by day interactions.
Iḷisaġvik Faculty has a contemporary IT infrastructure. However like many underserved instructional establishments within the United Sates, there have been some gaps, primarily across the school’s cybersecurity readiness.
Resolving these gaps is vital. In 2023, the Federal authorities created requirements requiring all colleges receiving federal funding be Nationwide Institute of Requirements Know-how (NIST) cybersecurity compliant. For colleges like Iḷisaġvik Faculty, funding these upgrades presents a significant problem and will in the end decide if they might proceed to function.
By way of 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 school to learn from this initiative which positions them to serve their area people in addition to college students who take their programs globally, nicely into the long run.
The perfect-in-class cybersecurity options applied at Iḷisaġvik featured the Cisco Meraki MX – a multifunctional all-in-one system 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 faculty envisions for college students, school, 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 will probably be providing our Cisco Networking Academy coursework, which is able to enable learners to acquire certifications in cybersecurity and networking that can make them extra aggressive for jobs, together with distant jobs.
This implies residents will have the ability to keep of their neighborhood and earn a aggressive wage within the cybersecurity and networking fields.
This can be a vital side 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 potential via connectivity.
Classes discovered from the highest of the world
Once I launched into this journey, I wasn’t anticipating it to be probably the most profound experiences of my profession.
Whereas I used to be in probably the most distant locations on earth, I discovered a welcoming neighborhood that jogged my memory how vital it’s to get proximate to a neighborhood to totally perceive its wants earlier than offering options.
I found a brand new sense of what’s potential by strolling alongside individuals with a historical past of dwelling 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 all over the world.
As Cisco begins the final yr of our five-year exploration in driving Social Justice, our work – and the affect we’re creating with communities – will proceed to broaden due to what we’ve discovered right here.
Preserving the previous – partnering for the long run. Cisco’s journey continues.
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