February 12, 2007

The following is a press release from Sister Cities International January 29, announcing Sister Cities International’s Creation of the Michael A. Guido Distinguished Leadership Award. Acting Executive Director Lynn Olson announced the Award at the International Affairs Committee of the Conference of Mayors during the 75th Winter Meeting in Washington (DC).

To honor a mayor who built friendship ties with the Middle East in the name of peace and understanding, Sister Cities International announced this week that its Distinguished Leadership Award will be known as the Sister Cities International Michael A. Guido Distinguished Leadership Award. The tribute honors Michael A. Guido, the late U.S. Conference of Mayors President and Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan.

“Mayor Guido believed in the value of his sister city program and the relationship he developed with Dearborn’s sister city, Qana, Lebanon, was remarkable and sustained,” said Lynn Olson, acting executive director of Sister Cities International, as she announced the tribute during the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) International Committee meeting last week.

She urged USCM members to create a living tribute to Mayor Guido, by forming new sister city relationships with communities in predominantly Islamic countries. “Your beloved USCM president was one of Sister Cities International’s most valued friends and spokespersons. We urge each and every USCM member mayor to consider partnering with a community in a predominantly Islamic country. It would be a great tribute to Mayor Guido and his vision and leadership.”

Guido led Dearborn, Michigan, to establish a sister city relationship with Qana, Lebanon in 1999, and the two communities have conducted numerous exchanges. In 2003, a delegation studying economic and municipal development visited Qana, and included key leaders from Sister Cities International, who wanted to learn more about their programs. Mayor Guido delivered a presentation to the organization’s Annual Conference in 2005 discussing lessons learned through their sister city partnership.

Mae Ferguson, executive director of the Fort Worth, TX sister cities program said, “For the last five years, Sister Cities International has promoted and nurtured US sister city relationships with cities in predominantly Islamic countries through its Islamic Peace & Friendship Initiative. We understand that the best way to change perceptions of the West in the Muslim world is to engage at the local level, city to city, people to people. A man who understood that to his very core was Mayor Michael Guido.”

The 2007 award will be presented at the Sister Cities International Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on July 21st. The award recipient for 2007 has not yet been chosen.

Ambassador Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta, a pioneer in promoting the value of international engagement at the city level, received the award in 2006. Former Congressman Jim Kolbe, a key Congressional leader in promoting citizen diplomacy, received the award in 2004.

Representing more than 2,500 communities in 137 countries, Sister Cities International (www.sister-cities.org) is a citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between the U.S. and communities abroad. Begun in 1956 after a White House summit where U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called for people-to-people exchanges, sister city partnerships are tailored to local interests and increase global cooperation at the grassroots level. Sister Cities International promotes peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation by focusing on sustainable development, youth and education, arts and culture, humanitarian assistance and economic growth programs.