The Arista Way is to drive for customer success in every aspect of what we do. We build and deliver innovative, high quality products and services through commitment, innovation and uncompromising focus on customer needs.
ESG (environment, social, governance) is a commitment to designing, manufacturing and delivering data-driven cloud networking solutions in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. This includes a focus on governance matters such as board diversity and tax transparency. We believe that sustainability and business growth are closely linked to delivering products and technologies that truly enable our customer's success. View Arista’s Corporate Responsibility Report
Culture at Arista Networks
Environmental Management System
We’ve implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) that lays out our objectives for achieving pollution prevention, environmental protection and monitoring, and continual improvements in the environmental performance of our operations. Backed by our Environmental Policy, the EMS provides a framework for monitoring of progress, internal employee training to embed sustainability into our business, external stakeholder engagement to promote continuous learning of best practices, and setting measurable targets to drive performance.
Social Responsibility
Arista celebrates our employees—we strive to differentiate by supporting a fun and inclusive culture that supports every member of our team. We’re extremely proud of our recognition as a US Great Place to Work as well as our achievement as an India Great Place to Work and our best-in-class ratings on Glassdoor, and comparably from our current and past employees.
But our social impacts aren’t limited only to the locations in which we work every day. Our responsible supply chain efforts are a testament to our commitment to the communities we work in and support.
Governance
We believe that good governance leads to high board effectiveness, promotes the long-term interests of our shareholders, strengthens the accountability of the board of directors and management, and improves our standing as a trusted member of the communities we serve. High standards and rigorous policies ensure that Arista’s activities undertaken to pursue our objectives are aligned with responsible conduct and ethics. Our Board of Directors are the gatekeepers of these standards, providing accountability, objectivity, perspective, and judgment when monitoring performance, in addition to standard duties such as providing oversight in the formation of the long term strategic, financial and organizational goals of the Company and of the plans designed to achieve those goals.
Partnering with Our Communities to Make a Difference - Arista Foundation Grants
Through our Arista Foundation, Arista is strongly connected and gives generously to our communities with special focus on those underrepresented and underserved in the areas of education, food security, and health as well as sustainability and disaster recovery.
Recent Highlights:
- Provided Funding for STEM Classrooms and Maker-Mobile Funding and hosted employee volunteer activities with RAFT
- Initiated an SCU STEM Scholarship for underrepresented groups
- Partnered with CODE 2040 to provide underrepresented group internships
- Created a grant with UC Berkeley to support first feneration/non-traditional background Engineering Students
- Funded a grant to support Diverse Supplier Development with capital and technical assistance
- Recognized by Second Harvest for providing > 500,000 meals to the community
Awards
Environmental Management System
We’ve implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) that lays out our objectives for achieving pollution prevention, environmental protection and monitoring, and continual improvements in the environmental performance of our operations. Backed by our Environmental Policy, the EMS provides a framework for monitoring of progress, internal employee training to embed sustainability into our business, external stakeholder engagement to promote continuous learning of best practices, and setting measurable targets to drive performance.
And while we do not manufacture products in-house, we ensure that our contract manufacturers’ facilities are ISO 14001 certified.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy
Even as we work to reduce the energy requirements of our products, we also look to do the same for our own operational needs. Our LEED facilities offer a baseline that already meets higher efficiency standards than the average, however we know we can’t stop there. As a young, growing company with a relatively small footprint, our initial efforts concentrated on growing our company while keeping our emissions intensity consistent, if not following a decreasing trend. Building upon our strong accomplishments to date, we are focusing our efforts by submitting new science-based targets to the Science Based Targets Initiative for their review and validation. We are setting goals of a 42% absolute reduction in emissions by 2030 and achieving science-based Net Zero by 2050.
Waste Management
Our offices do not generate large quantities of waste; however we follow the simple rule of using less, re-using where possible, and ensuring that the materials that we use in our operations and in our products are recyclable. We’re encouraged by the consistently low proportion of landfilled waste compared to total waste generated by our operations even as our data collection becomes more robust with the inclusion of more facilities. However, we see an opportunity to work harder to reduce the absolute amount of waste going to landfill.
Product Design and Efficiency
We are committed to designing, manufacturing and delivering leading data-driven cloud networking solutions in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. We aim to integrate sustainability in every aspect of our product’s life cycle, from the materials that make up our products, all the way to the end of life of the product.
Product Stewardship and Environmental Compliance
We strive to reduce the hazardous materials in our products without degrading product performance and reliability as well as comply with applicable product related environmental laws and legislations on the restriction of certain hazardous substances.
Our product stewardship program oversees materials that are regulated through both global product environmental laws and regulations as well as customer requirements. We ensure that our suppliers comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations for the parts that they supply or manufacture for us.
For more information on Arista’s stance regarding waste management regulations like Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and the Packaging Directive, please click here.
Social Responsibility
Arista celebrates our employees—we strive to differentiate by supporting a fun and inclusive culture that supports every member of our team. We’re extremely proud of our recognition as a US Great Place to Work as well as our achievement as an India Great Place to Work and our best-in-class ratings on Glassdoor, Comparably, and Bay Area Best Place To Work from our current and past employees. But our social impacts aren’t limited only to the locations in which we work every day. Our responsible supply chain efforts are a testament to our commitment to the communities we work in and support.
Diversity at Arista Networks
Diversity and Inclusion
Arista is all about respect, integrity, innovation, passion, pride and trust. We strive to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees. It fuels our innovation and connects us closer to the customers and communities we serve. At Arista, we believe that the voices of our employees are the ultimate barometer in evaluating the success of our Diversity and Inclusion efforts. In a recently completed employee survey, Arista received our highest scores (very high 90% percentile) from all demographic groups in the areas of fairness. Per Great Place To Work, our scores were higher than the average of the top 100 overall performing companies in the US!
We continue to be proud to be one of a very select few Fortune 1000 companies currently with a female CEO and CFO.
Developing a More Diverse Future Pipeline
As part of our ongoing goal to recruit a diverse workforce, Arista’s recruiting team goes above and beyond posting jobs on typical job sites and extends our reach to underrepresented groups by frequently posting on such websites as the National Society of Black Engineers, United Latino Job Bank and Hire Veterans. We enthusiastically attend and recruit at diversity focused career fairs such as City Career Fair’s Annual Diversity Employment Day. Additionally, in 2022, Arista held a highly successful special women focused career fair in India, Recruit Her by Arista.
Through our Arista Foundation, Arista has a long rich tradition of going above and beyond in supporting underrepresented groups in our community in developing STEM talent and skills Some examples of amazing nonprofits we are currently or have supported in the past include: Code 2040, NPower, and Women in Product In 2021, the Arista Foundation made generous grants to initiate a scholarship for women and underrepresented minorities with Santa Clara University and for elementary and secondary education for underserved children with Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT) and Friends of the Children, NY.
In 2022, Arista will be initiating a returnship program for mothers, parents and aregivers with Path Forward as well and adding new colleges to our recruiting efforts for women and underrepresented minority groups.
Human Rights
At Arista, we believe that all employees should be treated with dignity and respect. As such, we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in the areas in which we operate. We work to ensure ethical practices and safe working environments in our operations and in our supply chain. Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct establishes company standards for all employees and contractors that span across issues relating to regulatory compliance and ethical business practices. Similarly, we require that our suppliers abide by a similar set of principles.
Community Engagement
Community engagement and partnership is one of our core Arista values. We believe that fostering our relationship with the locales in which we work and serve creates a greater sense of belonging and satisfaction for our employees, enhancing our reputation as an employer of choice and exemplifying model corporate citizenship.
Through our charitable foundation, Arista gives generously to numerous deserving non-profit organizations dedicated to developing impactful solutions to hunger, children’s education and wellness, health and environmental sustainability issues. In 2020, Arista provided grants to Stanford Medical, Friends of the Children - New York, PM Cares India, Temple Street Hospital, Ireland, the World Health Organization, and local high schools near our HQ campus among others.
In response to the pandemic and keeping our commitment to serve our communities, Arista quickly pivoted to partner with the American Red Cross of Silicon Valley to host a virtual volunteer event with Missing Maps. This will enable future first responders in Indonesia to deploy rapid emergency relief.
We’re continually working to identify additional opportunities for even more impactful engagement. In 2018, Arista launched our Global Community Engagement Planning & Strategy, supported by additional resources to facilitate the work. In 2019, we greatly exceeded our first-year goal of a multi-year tree planting initiative in India and in 2020, we completed our first ever simultaneous global giving event for hunger, raising funds to provide over 1.1 million meals globally to those in desperate need.
Arista is extremely proud of our multiyear partnership with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley which provides food to more than 500,000 community members in need every month. In 2020, donations made by Arista employees and Foundation donations provided over 600,000 meals to needy community members.
Gladstone Institutes/UCSF is an independent, non-profit biomedical research organization whose focus is to better understand, prevent, treat and cure cardiovascular, viral and neurological conditions. Our unrestricted AristaFoundation grant helped in part support the Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning research of Jennifer Doudna.
Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County supports effective programs that address community issues and enrich the lives of Santa Cruz County residents. The Arista Foundation and our employees responded rapidly and generously in the summer of 2020 to give to those so tragically impacted by the historic wildfires in Santa Cruz County.
The Central Texas Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief charity in Central Texas, whose mission is to nourish hungry people and lead its neighboring community in the fight against hunger.
Employee Wellness and Culture
In support and recognition of our truly dedicated employees, Arista proudly provides competitive and comprehensive benefit packages that give our employees the ability to optimize decisions for themselves, their families, and lifestyles. In 2020 and in response to the pandemic, Arista accelerated our wellness offerings to support our global employees and pivoted to an all virtual format. The intent was to provide practical wellness takeaways, strategies for stress reduction, and a regular program of informative webinars. The wellness pillars of focus were physical well-being, nutrition, mental well-being, social engagement and holistic health.
Governance
We believe that good governance leads to high board effectiveness, promotes the long-term interests of our shareholders, strengthens the accountability of the board of directors and management, and improves our standing as a trusted member of the communities we serve. High standards and rigorous policies ensure that Arista’s activities undertaken to pursue our objectives are aligned with responsible conduct and ethics. Our Board of Directors are the gatekeepers of these standards, providing accountability, objectivity, perspective, and judgment when monitoring performance, in addition to standard duties such as providing oversight in the formation of the long term strategic, financial and organizational goals of the Company and of the plans designed to achieve those goals.
Board of Director Highlights
Risk Management
Risk is inherent with every business, and we face a number of risks, including strategic, financial, business and operational, legal and compliance, and reputational. We have designed and implemented processes to manage risk in our operations. Management is responsible for the day-to-day management of risks the Company faces while our board of directors has responsibility for the oversight of risk management. Our board committees assist our board of directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities in certain areas of risk.
Business with Integrity
We are committed to maintaining the highest level of professional and ethical standards in the conduct of our business around the world. Our reputation for honesty, integrity, and fair dealing is an important component of our success and the personal satisfaction of our employees. Ethical behavior is the cornerstone to a company’s well-earned success. We’ve set policies and procedures in place to ensure that our operations,employees, and suppliers are held to rigorous standards regarding their conduct and compliance with expectations and regulations. The below chart illustrates the responsibilities of our board and board committees in overseeing risk in our operations.
Board of Directors
Audit Committee
- Assists in the areas of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, legal and regulatory compliance.
- Discusses with management and the independent auditor guidelines and policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management.
- Reviews our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to control and monitor these exposures.
- Monitors certain key risks on a regular basis throughout the fiscal year such as, cybersecurity risk and risk associated with internal control over financial reporting.
- Reviews the adequacy and monitoring of our compliance programs for legal, ethical and regulatory requirements.
- Reviews our risk management policies, including our investment policies.
- Reviews management reports on internal compliance policies and procedures.
- Reviews and discusses with management our policies and practices relating to environmental and social responsibility matters.
- Reviews and discusses with management our information security policies and internal controls regarding information security.
Compensation Committee
- Assesses risks created by the incentives inherent in our compensation policies.
- Evaluates compensation policies and practices that could mitigate risks.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Manages risks associated with board organization, membership and structure, corporate governance and succession planning.
- Reviews any conflicts of interest.