Aspen Sister Cities is a nonprofit organization run by a Board of Directors. Our mission is to share ideas and cultures through the international exchange of students and community members from Aspen and its sister cities. We support the Sister Cities International mission statement of promoting peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation- one individual, one community at a time.
The Aspen Sister Cities program began in 1966 with a relationship with Garmisch- Partenkirchen, Germany. In 1985 Mayor Bill Stirling and the council established the Aspen Sister Cities Committee. Relationships with six more cities were subsequently established.
Affiliations between cities throughout the world began after WWII. The U.S. Sister Cities program was launched by President Eisenhower in 1956, and from this grew the Sister Cities International organization which has assisted more than 900 U.S. cities link with 2100 communities in 120 different countries.