AppDynamics and Team4Tech

One of the most rewarding aspects of my career has been finding ways to give back to the community. At Cisco and AppDynamics, I'm fortunate to have many volunteering opportunities and support from all levels of our company. It's simply part of our culture.

My usual volunteering outlets have been sidelined by Covid, so I was looking for alternatives when I heard about Team4Tech, an organization committed to enhancing educational opportunities for underserved children around the world.

AppDynamics was sponsoring a project through Team4Tech (and their partner organization TeachUNITED), to help improve the capabilities of Orkeeswa School in Tanzania. Over the course of a 10-week project, the AppD team would assist in everything from enabling teachers to guiding the selection of a school management system.

In a normal, non-global-pandemic year, AppD would have funded a 1-2 week visit to the school in Tanzania... not far from Mount Kilimanjaro! While we knew that wasn't an option this year, I still wanted to participate. So I applied with Team4Tech, was interviewed, and then selected as one of the 11 volunteers from AppD.

What I had not expected from the program was the structure and commitment to our own professional growth in areas like design thinking, customer-centric innovation, growth mindset, and one of my personal passions: diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Each week, we had homework -- the good kind of homework, often in the form of insightful readings and videos to expand and deepen our awareness. We'd then meet to share what we learned and discuss as a group.

These discussions were open, honest, and transparent. We grew together. I often found myself wishing that more people in our society could participate in such courageous conversations. I'm sure it would alleviate some of the polarization we see today. In a year when news and media can seem overwhelmingly negative, opportunities like this can restore one's faith in the future.

I don't share much on social media, but wanted to express my gratitude to Team4Tech and AppDynamics for making this program available. To my fellow volunteers, it's been a true pleasure getting to know you these past few months. Once we've put this pandemic behind us, perhaps we'll cross paths one day in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. 🙂