NONI ALLWOOD

Senior Director, Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco

Words of Wisdom: Although I went through enormous guilt and anguish over many decisions I had to make about integrating my life and work, giving up my career was never something I considered.

Noni Allwood arrived in the United States from her native country of  El Salvador as a single mom with her 1 year old daughter in 1982. With a job in a small software company and no circle of family or friends, she began to build her new life and career. For many years, choices were limited, as she faced the challenges of single motherhood. But as she expanded her family and career network, Noni was able to choose from a much broader set of options to enable the integration of her work and life. She believes her career always made her a better mom because of the wonderful opportunities to grow and learn as a human being in ways that helped build her character. She has been employed with Cisco Systems for eleven years, where she has assumed responsibility for roles demanding continued high performance. Allwood believes that it has been Cisco's culture of flexibility and employee empowerment that has enabled her to perform at such high expectations and intense pace, year after year. Noni states, "While working for Cisco, I have been able to work from anywhere and manage my work schedule in a ways that meets my needs and preferences, as long as I continue to deliver results to the organization and the productivity of the team is not impacted by my choices. I can decide to work from home, come into the office, start my day, end my day, fragment my day...in any way I deem appropriate. This puts the accountability and responsibility on me, to make this work, and it has for 11 years. I doubt I would be with Cisco or achieved what I have in the company, without this huge flexibility.”
 
As the senior director of Cisco System’s Global Gender Diversity program Noni was charted with creating alternative work styles for women. She also worked with Cisco to change the culture & perception of working mothers and to help create an environment that was beneficial & positive for them. One supporter wrote that “Noni has impacted the entire HR protocol to effectively evaluate, hire, & retain talented women. There are many who are most grateful for the changes she's driven.”