share of awards. Despite being a veteran
of the notoriously hard-driving tech
industry, she is described by colleagues
as “collaborative,” “compassionate” and
“optimistic.”
Pathway to Nonprofit Work
Katherine Toch grew up in Castro Valley,
earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political
Science and a Master’s in Public Admin-
istration from California State University,
and without missing a beat, launched her
career in the nonprofit sector.
Toc h spent most of the 1990s in
leadership roles with community
organizations. She kicked things off as the
Salvation Army’s Director of Operations.
That experience convinced her that she
was on the right career track.
“Even in the beginning, I knew that
I wanted to work in a nonprofit setting,
in a management role,” Toch said. “I
wanted to give back in some tangible
way through my career.”
Working to Alleviate Poverty
CISCO'S KATHERINE TOCH
A Career
of Social
Impact
Written and Photographed
By Robin Sheperd
K
atherine Toch likes to go “all
in” and yet she still manages to
strike a balance between her
career and personal life.
For her part, Toch says she’s lucky
to have work that is both professionally
and personally rewarding, but she
comes across more as someone who
makes her own luck.
Toch is Director of Corporate
Social Responsibility Marketing at
Cisco, a leadership role she enjoys at
a company that has won more than its
86
At age 30, she became CEO of YWCA
Silicon Valley, one of her favorite jobs.
Under Toch’s leadership the organization
grew its volunteer base to more than
500 people and doubled its revenues to
$4 million. Her team made progress on
behalf of women and at-risk children in
terms of transitional housing, daycare
for single working moms, and a rape
crisis center.
“Poverty is a systemic issue. A mom
can’t get a job without English language
skills. She can’t go to work without day-
care for her kids. And she can’t do any of
that without a safe place for her family
to live. We took a holistic approach to
helping people make the transition to
becoming self-sufficient. There’s a lot of
joy and gratification in being able to see
that what you’re doing is making a real
difference.”
Revitalizing a Neighborhood
Toch then joined Community Foundation
Silicon Valley where she led a multi-year
effort in support of the Mayfair Improve-
ment Initiative, a sweeping neighborhood
revitalization project funded by the
Hewlett Foundation.
“We identified dozens of projects
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018
to help transform a troubled and
disadvantaged neighborhood in East
San Jose. We worked with local residents,
law enforcement, the county, schools, and
private sector partners. The neighborhood
decided how donated funds would
be allocated. Given time, support and
opportunities, they developed capacity
to bring about change within their
own community.”
Toch was working as the Director
of Community Outreach for Valley
Transportation Authority when she got
the call from Cisco.
Pioneering CSR
Initially, she was hired to lead marketing
for Cisco’s then-fledgling Networking
Academy, a program created to equip
youth, military veterans, and people
changing careers with tech skills that
would open doors to good jobs.
“We grew like gangbusters, adding
states and even countries every day.”
Today, Cisco Networking Academy
curriculum is offered at more than
10,000 locations in partnership with
high schools, community colleges and
universities around the world.
“The academies help students develop
highly marketable skills through online
and instructor-led courses in networking,
cybersecurity and the internet of things.
We’re constantly developing new courses
and we make them available to schools at
no charge.”
Toch was promoted to Director
of Marketing for Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) in 2018. She said
Cisco began setting goals around major
global issues, from climate change to
human rights, “long before anyone called
it corporate social responsibility.”
For some companies, CSR tends
to be all talk. Not so at Cisco. One of
many examples of CSR in action is
Cisco’s Tactical Operations team, which
uses the company’s core competency to
help people and communities restore
communications when disaster strikes.
In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated
the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico leaving
one million people without shelter,
clean water, food, medicines, or fuel for
their cars. They also lacked electricity
and internet connectivity. Without
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