Anyone else forget that in January we entered a whole new decade? Remember all the hope and optimism we felt ushering in the roaring ’20s? I’m pretty sure it was real and not just champagne bubbles.

Instead, we got a global pandemic that has now infected 8 million people and killed more than 437,000 and, in the U.S. at least, racist cops killing black people, which has triggered protests in all 50 states and in other countries around the globe.

I forgot about this optimism until Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins finally took the virtual stage this morning to kick off the company’s delayed Cisco Live event.

“We started out a new decade with hope,” Robbins said. “And we never imagined that in June we would have experienced what we’ve experienced this year … And while 2020 has brought a lot of pain, a lot of sadness, a lot of anger, I do believe that we can take the setbacks and turn them into progress. We can take the challenges, turn them into opportunity, and take some of the hate that we’ve seen in the world and turn it into hope, because we believe in what’s possible.”

Of course, because Cisco is a technology vendor, this likely includes using Cisco infrastructure to prepare for the next big disruption — and the new normal, which Robbins and other CEOs agree probably won’t include as much travel for sales meetings or trade shows, and probably will include more remote, distributed workers. This makes cloud-managed networking and security, automation, and video conferencing tools vital as businesses work to “modernize everything, so that whatever comes next we’re ready,” Robbins said.

But it also includes working together to support social justice and other community organizations that are working to end racism, food insecurity, and homelessness, Robbins said.

For the last 20 years, Cisco’s purpose statement has been to change the way we work, live, play, and learn. “We feel like we’ve done that,” Robbins said. So, six months ago, Robbins and his team came up with a new purpose statement that Robbins unveiled at Cisco Live: To power an inclusive future for all. “Think about that in the context of what’s happening in today’s world,” Robbins said. “It’s so pertinent.”

This, of course, also involves technology — like Cisco networking that connects people in remote villages and delivers health care and education. But it also involves a strong sense of social responsibility and a financial commitment to communities and organizations. Cisco committed its first $50 million to help solve homelessness in Silicon Valley in 2018, and more recently in March it committed an initial $225 million in global COVID-19 response, which has grown to more than $500 million.

To this end Robbins called on more companies to join Cisco in donating to organizations providing COVID-19 relief and those like the Equal Justice Initiative and NAACP Legal Defense Fund that are fighting racism. Cisco calls this initiative “Next Horizon.” It’s already teamed with some businesses on this including Honeywell, Insight, NTT, Chrome Enterprise, Itron, CenturyLink, Google Cloud, and ConvergeOne. During his Cisco Live keynote, Robbins called on more industry leaders to join forces.

“We’re more powerful and more impactful if we come together,” Robbins said. “Almost 100% of the CIOs that we surveyed said that they’re driven by a purpose that’s aligned to doing good, and I think this is going to become more and more important to organizations and companies in the future.”

Four years ago at Cisco Live, the company set a goal to positively impact 1 billion people by 2025 through cash, technology donations, and grants to non-profits such as Mercy Corps and also though global educational programs like Cisco Networking Academy. Every year Cisco gives an update on its progress toward this goal.

The most recent figure is 11-months old, “so it’s going to be much higher in about 45 days when we get the new data,” Robbins said. “But 11 months ago, we were 47% of the way there at 469 million people. And my guess is in light of everything that’s transpired, there will be a huge jump when we see the [updated] number … This is what inspires me. I take incredible pride in what we’re doing, not only in the technology space but particularly in our communities, and particularly right now. And I hope you’ll decide to join us as we build our purpose.”