We are extremely proud to announce that Cisco has been recognized by Working Mother magazine's prestigious 2013 100 Best Companies list.  For five consecutive years we have appeared on this sought-after list,  and this year we're extremely proud to announce that Ileana Rivera, Senior Director at Cisco and IT Regional leader for Latin America, has been named asWorking Mother of the Yearin the same publication.

Ileana is responsible for managing all IT related client interactions for the Product Sales and Services Sales organizations and to the overall user community in Latin America.  Her main areas of responsibility include: User Experience support, Service Capability enablement, IT leadership, and Customer Engagements across Latin America. Ileana has more than 13 years of experience in the life science/medical device industry, and has been with Cisco for the last 5 years.

On the topic of being a working mother, Ileana says, "Being a working mother is the art of multitasking! Your mind is always running faster than your actions, you are alwaysplanning, strategizing, organizing, doing; then one of the kids is sick and you plan, strategize, organize and do it all over again!"

In addition to her core responsibilities, Ileana is a strong advocate for the company's inclusion and diversity initiatives; investing in future leaders within her organization by supporting the Hispanic IT Executive Council as a Board Member.  She also actively participates in Conexion and Connected Women -two of  Cisco's Employee Resource Organizations (EROs) which are dedicated to the advancement, mentoring, and promotion of Latinos and woman at Cisco, respectively.   Ileana is also a member of the IT Change Management Team, sponsored by Cisco's CIO, and the IT Speakers Bureau.

She truly is a woman of achievement; balancing responsibilities to her family and company in a way that has enabled their collective success.

Please join me in congratulating Ileana and all our working mothers at Cisco!

About Working Mother

Working Motherawarded companies nationally for their wide array of progressive workplace programs, including child care, flexibility, and advancement and paid family leave-recognizing leadership in creating family-friendly policy and culture.

Cisco has appeared on the much sought-after list, our eleventh time in the last 13 years. The 100 Best Companies are profiled in the October/November issue ofWorking Motherin the Best Companies section and will be honored at the Work Life Congress in October.