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In this role, she drives initiatives to attract, engage, and retain diverse talent. By working closely with business leaders and HR partners, she ensures that Cisco attracts and retains diverse talent across all levels, by fostering an inclusive workplace where all are welcomed, valued, respected, and heard. Her efforts in global entry-level talent recruiting help build strong connections with educational institutions and training partners, bringing in fresh and innovative talent to the company. In her prior role, Aleta led the DEI Talent Strategy team where she was responsible for aligning corporate and functional diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, and creating both internal and external programs that promote diverse and inclusive hiring practices. She also played a pivotal role in the Inclusive Recruiting Strategy for University Recruiting, collaborating with leaders and HR partners to develop hiring strategies and programs aimed at attracting diverse university talent. Additionally, she served as a Program Manager in Cisco's Office of Inclusion and Collaboration, where she helped establish processes for reviewing diversity metrics with senior leaders. Before joining Cisco, Aleta accrued more than two decades of experience as a senior branding consultant. In this capacity, she worked with senior leaders and executives to develop and guide branding and business strategies. Her extensive experience includes leading brand marketing teams, strategic consulting, and talent acquisition strategy for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Aleta began her career as a brand manager at Nabisco Foods. Following her tenure at Nabisco, she returned to Kenan-Flagler Business School as the Associate Director of Admissions for Minority Recruitment. She later became the MBA Admissions Director, overseeing all recruiting and admissions activities for the full-time MBA program. An alumna of NC State University, Jane earned a BA in Economics and Business Management. She also holds an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC-Chapel Hill. Residing in Raleigh, NC, with her husband Kevin, she is the proud mother of two college-aged daughters. 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screen-reader-text" href="#content">Skip to content</a> <header id="masthead" class="site-header"> </header> <div id="content" class="site-content"> <p id="breadcrumbs"><span><span><a href="https://blogs.cisco.com/">Cisco Blogs</a> / <span class="breadcrumb_last" aria-current="page">Aleta Howell</span></span></span></p> <div class="blog-row author-bio"> <div class="item-thirds-1 author-bio-box"> <div class="author-image">  <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2024/10/IL20241008214850-alhowell-150x150.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Avatar" class="avatar avatar-150wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar-150 alignnone photo avatar-default"> </div> <div class="author-info"> <h1> Aleta Howell </h1> <a href="https://twitter.com/aleta_howell" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img class="share_image" src="https://blogs.cisco.com/wp-content/themes/ciscowordpress-child/svg/share_X_navy.svg" alt="share on facebook"></a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aletahowell" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img class="share_image" src="https://blogs.cisco.com/wp-content/themes/ciscowordpress-child/svg/share_li_navy.svg" alt="share on facebook"></a> <h4 class="title">Global Director, Diversity & Entry Level Recruiting</h4> <h4>People and Communities</h4> </div> </div> <div class="author-description item-two-thirds-2"> Aleta Howell leads Cisco’s Global Diversity and Entry-Level Recruiting team. In this role, she drives initiatives to attract, engage, and retain diverse talent. By working closely with business leaders and HR partners, she ensures that Cisco attracts and retains diverse talent across all levels, by fostering an inclusive workplace where all are welcomed, valued, respected, and heard. Her efforts in global entry-level talent recruiting help build strong connections with educational institutions and training partners, bringing in fresh and innovative talent to the company. In her prior role, Aleta led the DEI Talent Strategy team where she was responsible for aligning corporate and functional diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, and creating both internal and external programs that promote diverse and inclusive hiring practices. She also played a pivotal role in the Inclusive Recruiting Strategy for University Recruiting, collaborating with leaders and HR partners to develop hiring strategies and programs aimed at attracting diverse university talent. Additionally, she served as a Program Manager in Cisco's Office of Inclusion and Collaboration, where she helped establish processes for reviewing diversity metrics with senior leaders. Before joining Cisco, Aleta accrued more than two decades of experience as a senior branding consultant. In this capacity, she worked with senior leaders and executives to develop and guide branding and business strategies. Her extensive experience includes leading brand marketing teams, strategic consulting, and talent acquisition strategy for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Aleta began her career as a brand manager at Nabisco Foods. Following her tenure at Nabisco, she returned to Kenan-Flagler Business School as the Associate Director of Admissions for Minority Recruitment. She later became the MBA Admissions Director, overseeing all recruiting and admissions activities for the full-time MBA program. An alumna of NC State University, Jane earned a BA in Economics and Business Management. She also holds an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC-Chapel Hill. Residing in Raleigh, NC, with her husband Kevin, she is the proud mother of two college-aged daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys singing, cooking, writing, and traveling. </div> </div> <div class="blog-row page-type"> <h2 class="item-full"> Articles </h2> </div> <div class="cui section"> <div class="blog-row"> <div class="blog-card item-thirds-1"> <div class="card-header"> <div class="card-social-header"> <p class="card-social-header-date"> October 15, 2024</p> <div class="card-social-header-comments"> <p class="comment-link"> <a href="https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce#respond"> <span class="icon-comment icon-extra-small"></span></a> </p> </div> </div> <p class="category"><a href="https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose">OUR CORPORATE PURPOSE</a></p> <a href="https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce" class="blog-image-link" style="display:unset;"> <div class ="card-img-header" style="background-image:url(https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2024/10/Neurodivergent-Illustration@3x-600x200.png);"></div> </a> </div><div class="card-author-section"> <a href=" https://blogs.cisco.com/author/alhowell "> <div class ="blog-thumb" style="background-image:url(https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2024/10/IL20241008214850-alhowell-150x150.jpg)"></div> </a> <p class="card-author-name"> <a href="https://blogs.cisco.com/author/alhowell" title="Posts by Aleta Howell" rel="author">Aleta Howell</a> </p> </div><div class="card__body"> <a class="card-link" href="https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce"><h4 class="base-margin-bottom"> Embracing neurodiversity: The key to unlocking hidden talent in the workforce </h4></a> <p class="read-time">3 min read</p> <p class="card-paragraph"> As AI transforms the tech industry and recruitment processes, organizations are beginning to understand the immense value of hiring neurodivergent talent. </p> </div> <div class="card-social-footer" id="social-foot-463594"> <div class="card-social-icon-container">  <a href = "https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce" aria-label="Share on LinkedIn" data-title=" " data-config-metrics-group='social_shares' data-config-metrics-title='linkedin_shares' data-config-metrics-item='linkedin_share' onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href, '', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"><img src="/wp-content/themes/ciscowordpress/svg/linkedin.svg"></a>  <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce&text=Embracing neurodiversity: The key to unlocking hidden talent in the workforce&via=Cisco" target='_blank' aria-label="Share on Twitter" data-config-metrics-group='social_shares' data-config-metrics-title='twitter_shares' data-config-metrics-item='twitter_share'><img src="/wp-content/themes/ciscowordpress/svg/X.svg"></a>  <a href = "http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce&title=Embracing neurodiversity: The key to unlocking hidden talent in the workforce" aria-label="Share on Facebook" data-config-metrics-group='social_shares' data-config-metrics-title='facebook_shares' data-config-metrics-item='facebook_share' onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href, '', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"><img src="/wp-content/themes/ciscowordpress/svg/facebook.svg"></a>  <a href="mailto:?subject=Cisco Blog: 463594Embracing neurodiversity: The key to unlocking hidden talent in the workforce&body=I saw this post on Cisco Blogs and thought you might like to read it.%0A%0A463594Embracing neurodiversity: The key to unlocking hidden talent in the workforce%0A%0Ahttps://blogs.cisco.com/our-corporate-purpose/embracing-neurodiversity-the-key-to-unlocking-hidden-talent-in-the-workforce%0A%0A****Disclaimer****%0A%0ACisco is not responsible for the content of this email, and its contents do not necessarily reflect Cisco’s views or opinions. 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