RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco, ahas made three promotions to the company’s leadership team – all women.
Fran Katsoudas, who has been with the company for 25 years and had led the company’s people and communities organization for more than five years, has been promoted to the role of chief people, policy, and purpose officer. Along with this promotion, Katsoudas will oversee the company’s global governmental affairs and country digital acceleration teams.
“The policies set by the countries and governments around the world in which we operate have meaningful impact on our people, our communities and our business and they’ve become more intricately embedded in our overall business strategy,” said Robbins in a blog post. “By bringing these teams together, I believe we will bring the best experience for our people as well as enrich the communities around us, and Fran is the best leader to drive this effort forward.”
Katsoudas currently serves on the Board of Directors for Americares, Global Citizen, and ADP and is based in the Bay Area.
Maria Martinez was named the company’s COO. Martinez serves on the Board of Directors for both McKesson and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation and was recently named as a Technology Visionary on ALPFA’s (Association of Latino Professionals for America) list of 50 Most Powerful Latinas.
The company also elevated Liz Centoni, who was named chief strategy officer and general manager, applications. That would include the company’s AppDynamics business, Robbins said.
“Under Liz Centoni’s leadership, we have been able to anticipate, invest in, and incubate new technologies that we can scale and take to market, while also solidifying the strategy that will enable us to deliver on our innovation promise,” said Robbins.
“These fantastic leaders will continue to drive key areas of our business & shape the future for @Cisco,” he wrote in a tweet announcing the news on International Women’s Day.
Cisco operates one of its largest campuses in RTP.
