By Scott McGregor,
Publication Date: 2025-12-19 22:16:00
On December 8, we hosted the first Empower & Connect Summit at Cisco’s campus in Raleigh, NC, bringing together partners, innovators, and communities to explore how technology can drive meaningful social impact.
At the center of that energy was the Community Innovation Challenge. In partnership with Net Impact we invited students from around the world to pitch their boldest ideas: how would they use Cisco technology to address critical challenges in their own communities? We received 84 proposals from 12 countries, with the top five teams advancing to present in person at the Summit. There, a panel of experts evaluated their ideas based on their understanding of community needs, innovative use of technology, and potential for real-world results.
What struck me most wasn’t just the technical sophistication of their proposals — it was how deeply these students understood the communities they were designing for, and how they positioned technology as a path to…
