Sister Cities
Aspen Sister City Mission
Our mission is to share ideas and cultures through the international exchange of students &
community members from Aspen and Aspen's respective sister cities.
One of the primary projects of the Aspen organization is the exchange of middle school age
students from the various sister cities. Each student, whether from Aspen or coming from a
"sister city" stays with a host family with a student(s) of similar age. These exchanges have been
very successful in making life changing differences in the lives of the students. Many life long
friendships have been established and some students have subsequently returned to the host
countries for further study and pleasure.
Other cultural 'sister city' exchanges include ski patrollers, ski instructors, school teachers,
students and other. Various cultural, educational, and sport events representing respective 'sister
cities' also occur.
Aspen's Sister Cities
Sister City History
Affiliations between cities throughout the world began after WWII. The US Sister Cities program was
launched by President Eisenhower in 1956 and from this grew the Sister Cities International
organization (www.sister-cities.org/welcome) which has assisted more than 900 US cities link with
2100 communities in 120 different countries.
The program goal is to have people and their communities make a difference in a changing world
through the international exchange of people, ideas, and cultures.
The Aspen Sister Cities program began in 1966 with a relationship with Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany. In 1985 Mayor Bill Stirling and the city council established the Aspen Sister Cities
Committee and relationships with five more cities were subsequently established.
About Aspen Sister City Organization
The Aspen Sister Cities Committee, a non-profit organization, is run
by a Board of Directors.
The committee meets at 5PM the second Tuesday of every month. except
May, in the Sister Cities room at the Aspen City Hall. The public is invited.
Board of Directors:
| President |
Don Sheeley |
| Vice President |
Pat Fallin |
| Treasurer |
John Taylor |
| Secretary |
Jill Greenwald |
Chair/Coordinators for each of our "Sisters":
| Garmisch-Partenkirchen |
Wolf Gensch |
| Chamonix |
Francesca MacPherson and John Armstrong |
| Davos |
Karinjo DeVore |
| Queenstown |
Jill Sheeley |
| Shimmukappu |
Karinjo DeVore |
| Bariloche |
Griff Smith |
