We were delighted to be involved in the visit of Michal Jensby, Events and Partnerships Manager at Global Atlanta, who visited Newcastle on 28th September. Newcastle has a long-standing Sister City relationship with Atlanta, Georgia in the USA.
Michal met a range of university, business and civic representatives, as well as visiting Newcastle United on her whistle-stop tour of the city. We are looking forward to continuing to work with partners in Atlanta to create opportunities for young people, businesses and universities across both cities.
Strengthening Atlanta-Newcastle ties
My short time in Newcastle made it abundantly clear that there is an exciting momentum in the business, education, and cultural communities and our two cities can truly benefit from a renewed, stronger sister-city relationship.
There are so many potential connections in sports, tech, cultural exchange, and innovation and I’m eager to help Atlantans see the many commonalities we have with Newcastle and vice versa.
Michal Jensby, Global Atlanta
During our conversation, we discussed the role of International Newcastle and our priorities around providing opportunities for children and young people to become confident global citizens and our range of support for schools and colleges in the city and our support for international connections and exchange.
2023 is Atlanta’s Year of the Youth, led by their City Council and they are investing heavily in providing support and opportunities for their young people from early years to employment.
We also explored Global Atlanta’s outstanding approach to facilitating international relations and connections for all partners and communities in their city to the world.
It was such a pleasure meeting Michal and exploring opportunities to develop further partnerships with our Sister City. We can learn a lot from Global Atlanta’s collaborative, ambitious and proactive approach to creating international connections and opportunities and we look forward to being involved in developing more links between our cities in future.
Declan Baharini, Director, International Newcastle
Global Atlanta is a private company, operating for the last 30-year as news publication highlighting Atlanta as a centre for international business, education, and culture. Through their reporting, they are able to showcase how many of the international communities are engaging with Atlanta in business investment, diplomatic engagement, and education research and exchange. Global Atlanta:
- brings together a wide range of partners from business, education, investment agencies and the chamber of commerce, as well as the diplomatic corps in the city to promote international relations and engagement in international events, activities, programmes and discussions
- acts as a ‘community connector’, where community encompasses partners from the public, private and voluntary sector.
- have an international events calendar for the whole city, focusing on different countries and sectors
- has a website promoting Atlanta internationally and facilitating the engagement of the stakeholders and partners in Atlanta in international affairs and opportunities
- seeks to maximise the benefits of international relations for all concerned by co-ordinating their approach
Global Atlanta works closely with GCIV (Georgia Council for International Visitors) and the Office for International and Immigrant Affairs at the Mayor’s Office, who support international visits to Atlanta to maximise opportunities around education, arts and culture, trade and economic development, technology and diplomatic relations
Newcastle’s deep ties with Atlanta
The relationship began in November 1967, when Newcastle University awarded Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. an Honorary Doctorate. The Atlanta native provided a moving address where he called for the people to join him in the ongoing struggle against war, poverty, and racism. This was to be his his final public speech outside of the U.S. before his assassination.
Portrait of Dr Martin Luther King by artist Derek Russell as part of Newcastle’s Freedom City 2017 celebrations
Dr. King’s visit to Newcastle and his remarkable speech led to the foundation of a rooted relationship between the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta, and Newcastle. The 50th anniversary of the visit was the focus of a year-long celebration of civil rights called Freedom City with our universities, arts and culture organisations, business leaders and faith and community representatives leading activities and widespread public engagement.
In 1977, Atlanta and Newcastle became Sister Cities, when President Jimmy Carter visited and received the freedom of the city and the local government leads from both cities established this enduring link. Newcastle joined his Friendship Force initiative as the first in a series of global friendship ties with the USA.
President Carter would return to Newcastle in 1987 with a return visit by Newcastle Lord Mayor Derek Webster in 1988, where the relationship began to incorporate business and academics into its portfolio. Northumbria University established a strong exchange programme with Atlanta in the 1990s and university links have been developing ever since.
In 2015, Newcastle-based Sage Software moved its North American headquarters to the City of Atlanta to join its expansive FinTech ecosystem. The move created 400 new jobs and provides a platform for continued exchanges between the business communities.
Newcastle was one of the ten sister cities participating in in the COVID-19 Virtual Summit. Newcastle shared how it was able to leverage universities and international partners to gain information for public health standards and practices implemented across the world to accordingly adjust their own COVID-19 policies.
In March 2020, a Northern Powerhouse trade mission for exporters and high-growth businesses in the life sciences and healthcare traveled to Atlanta. Northern Powerhouse is an economic proposal by the government of the United Kingdom to boost economic growth in the North of England, including Newcastle.
Most recently in 2023, Newcastle United’s Miguel “Miggy” Almiron, formerly of Atlanta United, presented an NUFC shirt to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens ,while English Premier League players and coaches visited Soccer in the Streets at the West End MARTA station. Newcastle United played a friendly match with Chelsea in Atlanta. The visit was promoting football in the USA, in advance of Atlanta hosting the 2026 World Cup. Mayor Dickens and a delegation from Atlanta visited London in September to explore further ties.