Sister Cities International

Sister Cities International is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States. This network unites over 500 U.S. communities with 2,000 partnerships in 145 countries composed of tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers.

Our mission is "to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation--one individual, one community at a time."

Sister Cities International was created at President Eisenhower's 1956 White House conference on citizen diplomacy. Eisenhower envisioned an organization that could be the hub of peace and prosperity by creating bonds between people from different cities around the world. By becoming friends, President Eisenhower reasoned that people of different cultures could celebrate and appreciate their differences, instead of deriding them, fostering suspicion and sowing new seeds for war.

In the new millennium, Sister Cities International continues to expand its reach to new and emerging regions of the world. Today, it dedicates a special focus on areas with significant opportunities for cultural and educational exchanges, economic partnerships, and humanitarian assistance.