ROI: Show Them the Money

At the end of February I had the opportunity to attend and present at our Southern California (SOCAL) sister cities regional meeting. More than 100 citizen leaders assembled from Bakersfield, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Monica, San Diego, Torrance, among others – a great representation of the region.

Stelle Feuers, SOCAL’s leader, captained the day as the organizer and brought together a range of speakers to focus on economic development. Many of our local sister city programs are faced with showing municipal leaders how the local program delivers a “Return on Investment” for the community. Whether that means jobs (the magic word at the moment in politics) or actual revenue back to the city, this is a challenge for small nonprofits powered by volunteers. Some of our member cities have been doing economic work for years, but for some this is new ground to tread. The SOCAL meeting was a terrific mix of networking and a range of ideas, models, and best practices on how local sister city programs can accomplish this. Here’s an overview of the program:

· The morning started with well-known Adlei Wertman from USC. A compelling speaker who spoke about his experience as a social entrepreneur and the work of his USC program as it intersects business students looking to change the world.

· Susan Herlin from Louisville spoke about decades of economic and cultural work with their sister city, Kumasi, Ghana. Susan’s overall message was: slow and steady, success won’t happen overnight.

· SCI Board Member Carol Lopez from Santa Fe offered a terrific overview of her annual Santa Fe Folk Art Market. Her message: tangible micro-business opportunities can have a tremendous impact on individual artists and their native communities.

· Dave Zanetta from Long Beach gave a terrific summary of their work with their Chinese sister city. His message: get creative with your partnerships and get the word out about your efforts.

I had an opportunity to give the attendees and preview of some new research Sister Cities International undertook this winter on economic development and a range of economic development programs. My message: don't undervalue what your sister city program is delivering to your city.

Stay tuned for the roll-out of our economic development research in the next few weeks.