Shhhhh-Do you hear the crickets?

That would be the sound of my recent blogging efforts. Yes, yes woefully delinquent. Stay tuned - new posts forthcoming.

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.

Reflections from Ghana

Guest Blogger: Jim Doumas, Executive Vice President, Sister Cities International

It was close to one year ago that Sister Cities International, (SCI) received a three-year, $7.5 million grant to fund the Africa Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (AUPAP). This grant enables SCI to assist our members to develop 25 water, sanitation and health projects with twinned partners on the continent of Africa. In addition, the project focuses on assisting the development and increasing the capacity of Africa Global Sister Cities Foundation, (AGSCF), an organization based in Ghana dedicated to increasing citizen-to-citizen exchanges on the continent of Africa with the world.

I am excited about this opportunity for so many reasons. Above all, I welcome the opportunity to work directly with African communities and assist them with achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. This is a remarkable opportunity to demonstrate to the world that the sister cities network is a dynamic force that changes lives on a variety of levels.

Following the grant announcement, the past eight months have been a whirlwind of activity. If you haven’t heard, we opened an SCI office in Accra, Ghana, hired various staff and consultants to assist with the implementation of AUPAP and, of course, selected our seven Phase I cities.

Last month, the Phase I cities and their African partners assembled in Accra for an intense six-day project work plan training session. For the first time, all the AUPAP leaders were in one room to discuss their projects and learn from each other. This was also an opportunity for AGSCF to illustrate their role within the project and to discuss how best to work together to develop sister city capacity-building within Africa.

What I saw during this week was a group of dedicated volunteers and professionals working long, intense hours to strengthen their proposals. While most of the U.S. participants had previously met, this training session was the first time all of the African citizen participants had an opportunity to work together in-person. Looking around the room I was reminded that nothing replaces face-to-face interaction and saw people-to-people interaction in Africa as an additional catalyst for creative ideas to help improve AUPAP. The groups shared their project designs, architectural schematics and their community outreach plans. It was apparent that the African city program managers have taken on a key leadership role. The communities illustrated how the local community committees are drawing from all areas of the community (private, public, NGO), far beyond their traditional sister city committees which is a critical component of the AUPAP project.

With the training session behind us, SCI staff and members have turned their attention to AUPAP Phase II which will increase the number of cities from seven to 25. SCI is also assisting AGSCF as they finalize plans for an international conference in Accra in May, and a parallel track on AUPAP at the SCI’s Annual Conference in Albuquerque this July at our Annual Conference. It is at this moment that I stop, take a breath and reflect on all that has been accomplished and all that is yet to be accomplished. I left Accra with a tremendous sense of excitement for our members and their future work with our partners in Africa and a sense that Sister Cities is on the precipice of something great.

“World Peace Doesn’t Telecommute!”

This is what I told my staff a week ago on Thursday when Washington media and general population was in hysteria over the Friday arrival of the (first) blizzard of 2010. While parts of the DC region closed down in anticipation of snowflakes, Sister Cities International staff made their way into work and continued to press on. As a native Washingtonian, I was nonplussed by the forecast. No offense to the resident meteorologists, but this is town is notoriously tricky to forecast snow storms. Although, Nor’easters do tend to get the best of us – like this past week.

Little did I know that was the last time I was going to see my staff for a whole week. After 30”+ inches of snow (and a 2nd blizzard – aptly named Snozilla), we re-opened our office (along with the rest of the Washington, DC establishment and federal government) this past Friday to complete gridlock, few sidewalks, and snow islands that were randomly deposited in the middle of major thoroughfares in and around the region.

So…world peace may not telecommute, but apparently world peace does have issues with snow management. I can proudly report that the Sister Cities International staff continued their work (electronically) throughout the week. But, I could not help myself in the midst of this extreme weather event to spread the good word of our mission, in my front yard.

This got me thinking of other deep freeze exchanges. People in (regularly) snowy places press on with our work every year despite the weather! How about Barrow, Alaska - the most northern sister city community in our membership? Today’s forecast: -3 degrees and blowing snow (yea, the temperature was negative three without the wind chill!). Barrow has two sister city relationships: Inuvik, Canada and Ushuaia, Argentina.

Then there’s the famed Aspen, Colorado. They have a number of hilly sister cities that happen to be ski resorts, such as Chamonix, France; Davos, Switzerland; and, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; among their six sister cities. Their snowiest exchanges include medical and life saving training for patrols as well exchanges that focus on mitigating environmental impact of ski resorts.

I know there are other examples – feel free to share them with me. Maybe there’s an exchange or two that weren’t meant to be snow adventures but turned into one. Send me an email and I’ll pass them along in our blog.

An Inspired Life Motivates US-Mexico Relations

Guest Blogger: Michael Hyatt, Chair-Board of Directors, Sister Cities International

On December 30, 2009 Bobby Salcedo from El Monte, CA and a leader within the US Mexico sister city network was killed during a random act of violence while vacationing in Mexico. Bobby's life and work were celebrated at the US Mexico Sister City Association (USMSCA) Conference this past weekend in Cathedral City, CA. While some may shy away from relationships with Mexico in wake of such violence, members of the USMSCA called for an increase in the number of partnerships and exchanges with Mexico. The Association recognized that safety is a concern and needs to be addressed, but we must not live in fear.

I, along with Laura Giroux, attended the US Mexico Sister City Association conference this past weekend in Cathedral City, CA. Having formalized our partnership last year, we began to discuss ways to work together. We are working on a track for our 2010 conference which will focus on Mexico. We hope this will attract USMSCA members to attend as well as invite their partners in Mexico. I have also asked Gil Garcia to serve on our Mexico Task Force with its goals of increasing our relationships in Mexico as well as the level of activity.

A foundation in Bobby's honor for scholarships is being established in his name. I will have details on the Sister Cities International website when the foundation is complete. Bobby's death only highlights the need for our work to continue in Mexico and provide assistance to our neighbors.

If your city has one of our 151 partnerships in Mexico, please invite them to the conference in Albuquerque.

Honoring a Sister Cities Icon: Ruth Hashimoto

I have been fortunate in my nearly three-year tenure to meet thousands of sister city volunteer leaders from around the U.S. and the globe. I am always struck by the passion and commitment of our members. Unfortunately earlier this week, the Sister Cities International family lost one of our leaders when she passed away - Ruth Hashimoto, a legendary figure in our organization.

Ruth’s daughter, Ada Jane Akin, shared this message about her passing:

"My mother passed away peacefully on Monday, 1/4/2010, about 5:15am MT. She had been in declining health for the past few months, and her 96-year-old body finally decided it was time to go. My family and I are comforted by the knowledge that she was well-cared for and comfortable during her last days."

As we circulated the news today, in a short few hours I received a notable number of personal messages from sister city members about Ruth. I’d like to share just a few:

• A great loss to our organization. A friend to all, an inspiration and the kindest person you could ever hope to meet.
• It is sad to lose our long-time friend. She inspired so many of us through the years. So many treasured memories... her twinkling eyes, her ready smile, her origami offerings to us, her picture taking and photographs sent to us after each meeting, and most of all, her faith in the good of her fellowman and her steadfast belief in and love for Sister Cities.
• Ruth's legacy will live on through those of us who were fortunate to know - and love - her.
• A great board member and great Sister City enthusiast.
• My first impression of Sister Cities International was my Friend, Ruth. We both shared the same name and she sorta took me under her wing. Every time we met, she made me feel so very special. Her thoughtful and loving ways endeared her to so many of us that we each and all felt her “motherly instincts”. Her passion for SCI was contagious and certainly will linger with us for many years to come. To me, she WAS SISTER CITIES.

Thank you to all of those members who shared their thoughts with me. I didn’t have chance to meet Ruth, which is my loss, but based on everything I know of her, I think she’d appreciate this reflection by British Poet and Painter David Harkins:

“You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,

or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,

or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,

or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her only that she is gone,

or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind,

be empty and turn your back.

Or you can do what she'd want:

smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”

I invite those of you who knew her to share your stories, thoughts, and reflections. Add your comment below so we can celebrate her legacy and…go on.  

~Patrick Madden, President & CEO, Sister Cities International

To-Do List Before Dec 31

Before I get into a pithy 2010 blog post, I'm going to make one last pitch for your help. With a few days left before New Years, I've got a few quick ideas for how to spend your time - friendraising and fundraising for us!

• Give a personal cash donation to Sister Cities International. If you’ve already given, can you give again? Visit www.sister-cities.org/donate. (When it asks, "How'd you hear about us?" mention my blog.)
• Do some post-holiday shopping at Amazon.com by using our Sister Cities International link so we receive a donation back. Visit www.sister-cities.org/marketplace/index.cfm. (Save this link, you can use this link any time during the year for your online shopping needs.)
• Send an email to all your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and LinkedIn associates asking them to donate to Sister Cities International. Send them to www.sister-cities.org/donate.   
• Ask 2 of your friends who you know would be interested in helping advance world peace. Send them a personal note and ask them to visit www.sister-cities.org/donate. (This actually works, I know it sounds ancient, but it's VERY effective.)
• Check with your employer/company to see if they will match your donation. Visit www.giveto.psu.edu/WaysToGive/MatchingGifts/index.html.

To all of you who have given a contribution to Sister Cities International - thank you.