Background Statement
Denver Sister Cities International (DSCI) is a proud member of an international network of citizen diplomats from more than 500 communities, with over 2,000 partnerships in 145 countries around the globe. Sister Cities International began in 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower envisioned a way for U.S. cities to create formal partnerships with foreign cities. Municipality to municipality, cities could exchange information and ideas in order to develop friendships and deepen cultural understanding.
Denver had already forged ties with Brest, France in 1948, after the city was nearly completely destroyed during World War II, a local Denver teacher inspired her students to create a fundraising campaign to support a children's hospital center in Brest. The Denver-Brest partnership marked the beginning of the first US-Europe sister city and a long-term relationship of exchange programs that continues to this day. Denver’s continuously expanding international network now includes ten sister cities.