Fountain Hills Sister Cities Student Ambassador Travels to Washington, DC to Attend SCI's Youth Leadership Summit

For 2024, Sister Cities International invited global students ages 14-18 to attend its Youth Leadership Summit.

It took place August 4th through the 10th in Washington DC at the Sister Cities International headquarters. Other locations around DC were also visited that accentuated student learning.

The Summit is designed to engage future leaders and expose them to important global challenges to inspire a new generation of citizen diplomats and volunteers who become instrumental in promoting peace, mutual respect, and prosperity. The main goal of this summit is to prepare students with leadership and professional development skills to enable their successes and growth in the global community.

Our FHSC Student Ambassador, Eli Van Beek, traveled to DC to be part of this influential experience. Pictured above are Eli and current President and CEO of SCI Ricki Garrett.

Fountain Hills Sister Cities Proudly Honors Student Ambassador Eli Van Beek...

Eli Van Beek serves FHSC as our Student Ambassador and was selected to attend this year’s prestigious event.

Previous year’s attendees include FHSC Student Exchange Coordinator Michal Suchanek, who used that experience to propel his later career.

Eli’s experience and his passion for Sister Cities will likely have a similarly profound impact on his future, his forward-looking professional choices, and his life among the citizenry of the world.

We wish to congratulate Eli for participating in this event and representing Sister Cities and our community with such distinction.

Well done!

In His Own Words...

Hi. My name is Eli Van Beek and I am a senior at Fountain Hills High School. I was recently invited to experience the Sister Cities International Youth Leadership Summit in Washington, DC.

The Summit was an amazing experience. While on my trip, I was able to learn more about what being part of a Sister City really means! This experience really opened my eyes and made me see that no matter where you are from or what language you speak, we are all very similar.

The importance of participating in Sister Cities programs was revealed to me through a variety of different international guest speakers. Being part of these programs allows people from all over the world to connect and share their cultures.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to continue building these international connections by forming Sister Cities relationships. They are the future to building a better world where everyone understands and celebrates each other’s cultures!