At an online meeting between the partner cities of Trostyanets and Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, which took place on 6 March 2026 , a memorandum on a new partnership was signed under the auspices of Sister Cities International.
Sister Cities International is a leading US initiative founded in 1956 to promote civic diplomacy. It connects more than 2,000 US cities with partner cities in over 140 countries for cultural exchange, economic development and the strengthening of peaceful relations.
The Sister Cities International partnership aims to jointly implement educational, cultural, economic and social programmes. Its goals are to:
- enrich the culture of each city
- promote trade, sports and youth policy between cities
- implement initiatives for the development of quality education
Trostyanets city hromada was represented at the meeting by Mayor Yuriy Bova, Executive Committee Administrator Alla Kostenko, City Council Secretary Nataliia Kovalova, Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Zlepko, and heads of city council departments and divisions.
Representing the city of Chattanooga were: Mayor Tim Kelly, Senior Director of the Department of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Carmen Elliott, Deputy Administrator of the Department of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Monica Kinsey, Director of Intergovernmental Relations Ellis Smith, Director of New Chattanoogans, and Special Assistant to the Mayor Andrew Crockett.
Representatives of Chattanooga’s sister cities within the Sister Cities International initiative joined the online meeting: Deborah Levin, Louise Mesic, Bonnie Dodson, Sandra Branden, and Linda Burman.
A special guest at the event was Alana Gorodetska, a young woman from Trostyanets who is currently in the United States, in Manchester, Tennessee. Alana is a student in the FLEX programme. She passed the American Councils Ukraine competitive selection process and received a scholarship for a year of study in the United States, where she lives with an American family and introduces Americans to Ukrainian culture.
‘I want to develop an international project for young people from partner countries – the United States and Ukraine,’ says Ms. Alina. ‘I approached the Chattanooga City Council about this. I was invited to sign a memorandum, and that’s how our acquaintance began, which I hope will continue with cooperation.’
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Yuriy Bova thanked Mayor Tim Kelly and his colleagues, all the residents of City of Chattanooga – Government, and the friendly American people for their solidarity and constant support of Ukraine during these difficult times for our country, and for their exemplary leadership in defending our shared values of freedom, democracy, and independence!
