Our Mission & History
A cornerstone of the Tulsa community since 1976, Tulsa Global Alliance is an award-winning nonprofit focused on building global community. To achieve its mission, TGA hosts international professionals and students, facilitates Tulsa’s nine sister city partnerships, supports global education and exchanges, and promotes international business development.
Our History
Tulsa Global Alliance is the merged organization of the International Council of Tulsa (ICT) and Sister Cities International of Tulsa (SCIT). The City of Tulsa designated TGA as the organization responsible for managing its Sister Cities activities. The two separate organizations were merged into TGA in 1995.
The International Council of Tulsa began in 1976 by volunteers and the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. Sister Cities International of Tulsa was organized by volunteers under the auspices of Mayor Terry Young in 1986. As a result of the merger, TGA was able to remove duplicated efforts and was able to unite the individual program goals of the separate organizations alongside the City of Tulsa’s broader educational, cultural, and economic goals.
TGA is affiliated with two national organizations, Global Ties U.S. and Sister Cities International (SCI). Global Ties U.S. was founded in 1961 as the National Council of International Visitors with the purpose of providing services to U.S. government-sponsored international visitors. Today, Global Ties U.S. is the umbrella organization for over 90 cities and university centers that provide local itineraries and hospitality to international visitors.
Affiliations between cities in the United States and other countries began shortly after 1945 but with no real national focus until 1956 when President Eisenhower initiated the People-to-People Program at the White House. Out of this grew Sister Cities International (SCI). As of 2023, there are nearly 500 US Sister City communities with more than 2,000 partnerships. This represents 1,749 international communities in 140 countries.
Tulsa Global Alliance has long presented global education programming in the Tulsa community for the purpose of introducing young people to other cultures through hands-on learning activities, and face-to-face interactions, and international exchanges. These programs have included Kids' World International Festival, established in 1993; the Culture Box Program, created in 1998; World in a Box Day, which began in 2016; and numerous other K-12 exchange and organizational sponsorships and assists over the years. Ongoing partnerships with area institutions continue to prepare young people as the future workforce for a globally connected future.
TGA is designated by the City of Tulsa as the organization responsible for managing its international Sister Cities activities, and TGA is fortunate to have ongoing support from the Mayor's office and Tulsa City Council.
Tulsa’s Sister Cities include San Luis Potosí, Mexico (1980); Kaohsiung, Taiwan (1980); Beihai, China (1987); Tiberias, Israel (1989); Utsunomiya, Japan (1992); Zelenograd, Russia (1992); Celle, Germany (2000); Amiens, France (2005); and Mwanza, Tanzania (2024).
