But Cisco was taking the long view of the recession, creating a fellowship program for interested employees who were going to be laid off but whom the company hoped it could one day rehire.
Fellows would keep their salaries and be assigned to various nonprofit groups for a year, which turned into 18 months.
Taah Cox, 9, works at the computer as her mother, Maya Cox, and grandmother, Theodora Cox, look on. Theodora Cox helped her granddaughter embrace computers and the Internet.
(Barbara L. Johnston For The Washington Post)
|
| | | | ___Tech Policy/Security E-letter___ Written by washingtonpost.com's tech policy team, the e-mail version of this weekly feature includes an original news article and links to policy and cyber-security stories from the previous week.
• Click Here for Free Sign-up
• Read E-letter Archive
| | | | | | |
|
"We really looked at management" of groups seeking help from the company, said Tae Yoo, Cisco vice president of corporate affairs. "There was a real sense of entrepreneurship [at One Economy]. They want metrics."
Thirteen Cisco employees who lived in various parts of the country joined One Economy. Soon, they were working to set up networks at housing developments in cities around the country.
One of them, Robert Wendel of Portland, turned down a chance to go back to Cisco.
"I'd been working for 23 years, and essentially I was going to shift gears in five years anyway," Wendel said. "I walked away from a good job; it was a financial hit. I have large family, five kids. We had a family meeting. I said I wanted to do it, and they were supportive."
Wendel says affordable Internet access should be considered an essential utility, and new construction should always include it.
"In the early days, a lot of low-income housing didn't have washer-dryer hookups, either" he said. "Eventually, all new houses will be wired this way."
One Economy has moved out of its basement quarters and into the forefront of digital-divide efforts across the country. In addition to strictly private-sector partnerships, the group has successfully lobbied 14 states to include broadband networks in specifications for developers seeking contracts to build low-income housing.
The organization now has 32 full-time and 12 part-time employees, and a 2004 budget of $5.2 million.
