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 goal.
The bottom feels completely different right here in Utqiaġvik, Alaska – previously referred to as Barrow. Positioned 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 folks for hundreds of years and the challenges they’ve overcome to maintain their neighborhood for millennia.
As we speak, 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 appears 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 will 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 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 residing in a spot the place dependable entry to trendy conveniences like contemporary produce and heating gasoline are a problem. And restricted entry to broadband makes it tough to entry essential providers like schooling and healthcare in addition to keep a dependable connection to the remainder of the world.
The distant location and the tough 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. Obstacles now block elements of a highway that when encircled the city.
If not now – when?
Strolling among the many folks, it’s clear to me that regardless of the tough circumstances the Iñupiaq are already thriving. Communities around the globe have one thing to be taught from the vibrance of this tradition.
We’re not right here for a aid 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 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 influence in underserved communities.
The trail ahead – breaking down boundaries to schooling
On the coronary heart of this distant neighborhood is Iḷisaġvik Faculty, certainly one of solely 35 accredited tribal schools in the USA and the one tribal faculty positioned in Alaska. The president of the school, Justina Wilhelm, grew up in the neighborhood 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 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 essential. In 2023, the Federal authorities created requirements requiring all colleges receiving federal funding be Nationwide Institute of Requirements Expertise (NIST) cybersecurity compliant. For colleges like Iḷisaġvik Faculty, funding these upgrades presents a serious problem and will in the end decide if they might 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 profit from this initiative which positions them to serve their area people in addition to college students who take their programs globally, nicely into the longer term.
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 important to empowering the brand new future the school envisions for college students, 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 can 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 to keep of their neighborhood and earn a aggressive wage within the cybersecurity and networking fields.
This can be a essential 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 attainable by connectivity.
Classes discovered from the highest of the world
After I launched into this journey, I wasn’t anticipating it to be one of the profound experiences of my profession.
Whereas I used to be in one 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 totally perceive its wants earlier than offering options.
I found a brand new sense of what’s attainable by strolling alongside folks with a historical past of residing on the high 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 yr of our five-year exploration in driving Social Justice, our work – and the influence we’re creating with communities – will proceed to develop due to what we’ve discovered right here.
Preserving the previous – partnering for the longer term. Cisco’s journey continues.
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