Our organizational approach to sustainability

Sustainability is a fundamental part of our strategy and key to achieving our longer-term financial targets.

Our Board of Directors oversees our corporate strategy and approach to ESG initiatives, including ongoing efforts to keep us in lockstep with progressive industry trends and standards.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy and practices are designed to help us operate as a supplier, employer, and neighbor of choice around the globe. The policy applies to all employees, officers, directors, consultants, and agents of Ciena, its subsidiaries, and all company operations. It sets an expectation for our employees to:

• Be engaged—Be aware of our sustainability commitments and obligations to ensure that our interactions with employees, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and the communities in which we operate are consistent with this policy.
• Be responsible—Behave in a manner consistent with our commitment to sustainability by striving to minimize environmental impact of our facilities and maximize the wellbeing of our employees, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and the communities in which we operate.
• Be proactive—Actively look for ways to implement this policy in all of our operations and strive for continual improvement.

In 2019, we reached out to our top 30 stockholders—representing approximately 54 percent of our shares—to inform them of our recent progress on environmental sustainability, corporate governance, and social responsibility and community engagement, and corporate governance. Members of our executive leadership team personally met with stockholders representing more than 25 percent of our outstanding shares, including our three largest stockholders. These engagements allowed us to better understand investors’ ESG priorities and ensure alignment of our strategy and their expectations.