About

WE BUILD BRIDGES

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Toledo Sister Cities International (TSCI) is the not-for-profit nongovernmental organization that speaks collectively for all Toledo’s sister cities. We assist our sister cities in building bridges between the Mayor of Toledo and the mayors of municipalities across the world that have signed our sister city agreements. TSCI works closely with Toledo’s municipal government. We empower people to become “citizen diplomats” as a tool to promote global peace and understanding.

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TSCI is also the bridge between our sister cities and Sister Cities International (SCI), our parent organization that is dedicated to enriching our community through the spirit of international cooperation. President Dwight D. Eisenhower recognized that peace can be achieved when ordinary people work for it with their peers across the globe and he started the sister cities movement on September 11, 1956. Since that time the current President of the United States has served as its Honorary Chairman. SCI is also an international not-for-profit organization that strives to promote cultural, economic and educational development between United States cities and their partner cities throughout the world.

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TSCI was created on August 1, 1992, by an advisory board of community leaders, the Lucas County Port Authority, Toledo Edison, the Private Industry Council, and the City of Toledo. At that time, there were already several sister city relationships that had been formed through the initiative of private citizens and businesses. The goal in 1992, was to create an organization that would unite the already created sister city relationships, speak for them with one voice and promote the development of future affiliations.

Toledo is honored to have the very first sister city partnership in the world – the connection with our namesake, Toledo, Spain, created in 1931.

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Toledo’s other sister cities include Londrina, Brazil (1975), Qinhuangdao, China (1985), Szeged, Hungary (1990), Poznan, Poland (1991), , Toyohashi, Japan (2000), Tanga, Tanzania (2001), Delmenhorst, Germany (2002), Coimbatore, India (2009) and Hyderabad, Pakistan (2011). The Beqaa Valley of Lebanon is represented through a regional 9th Congressional District Relationship signed in 1999.

Additionally, we are now developing new sister city relationships in Germany, China and Australia.

TSCI’s sister city partnership committees are the heart of the organization and their members are automatically members of the TSCI umbrella organization.

Our office is located at One Government Center, Suite 2100, Toledo, OH 43604, but we work from home and get mail at our post office box.