FORT WORTH, Texas – July 22, 2025 – Fort Worth Sister Cities International has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Sister Cities International Innovation in Business, Trade and Professional Exchange award for populations greater than 300,001. The award recognizes the organization’s outstanding work in advancing people-to-people diplomacy through an innovative professional exchange program with Estonian municipal leaders.

The award-winning program hosted six Estonian delegates from Jan. 26 to Feb. 3, 2024, through the Congressional Office of International Leadership (COIL). The nine-day exchange focused on municipal leadership and community engagement, creating meaningful connections between Estonian and American professionals while showcasing Fort Worth’s governance approaches and community initiatives.

“This recognition highlights Fort Worth’s commitment to international engagement and citizen diplomacy,” said Fernando Costa, Governmental Affairs Chair of Fort Worth Sister Cities International. “The Estonian exchange program demonstrated how professional exchanges can build lasting relationships while addressing shared global challenges, such as public participation, urban revitalization, and housing affordability.”

The program paired professional meetings with cultural experiences and home stays, creating a comprehensive immersion experience that fostered deeper understanding between participants. Estonian delegates gained valuable insights into American approaches to municipal governance, particularly noting the strong NGO sector, volunteerism traditions, and public-private partnerships. Fort Worth participants discovered remarkable similarities between their communities despite geographical and cultural distances.

Key program highlights included meetings with Fort Worth City Council members and city officials, tours of multiple Fort Worth districts including Downtown, Historic Southside, Near Southside, and Cultural District, visits to community organizations including the Presbyterian Night Shelter and Texas Wesleyan University, professional networking with the City of Fort Worth Young Professionals, and a final presentation in the city council chambers.

The exchange involved extensive community participation, including four host families, six committee members, and numerous local professionals from organizations such as the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Police Department, Leadership Fort Worth, and various district organizations.

Fort Worth Sister Cities International accepted the award in person at the Diplomatic Dinner and Annual Awards Reception during the 2025 Summer Leadership Meetings and Annual Business Meeting in Fort Worth on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. The event featured keynote speaker Mary Jean Eisenhower, granddaughter of Sister Cities International founder President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The program’s success prompted Fort Worth Sister Cities to plan for hosting another delegation in 2025, demonstrating the sustainability and value of the exchange model. Though Estonia is not an official sister city to Fort Worth, the exchange fulfilled the organization’s mission to “enrich our community through international exchange” while extending impact beyond formal sister city relationships.

Fort Worth Sister Cities International maintains partnerships with nine official sister cities and continues to expand programming through innovative approaches like the COIL framework, which provides funding opportunities for professional exchanges that advance citizen diplomacy.