Southlake Sister Cities reports expanded youth program and new outreach to Hamburg, Germany

At the June 3 council meeting, Jeff Wang, president of Southlake Sister Cities, presented an update on the group’s activities and plans to broaden exchange relationships beyond Asia.

Wang said Southlake Sister Cities was formed in 1991 and has been active in cross‑cultural exchanges and educational programming with partner cities, notably Tome, Japan and Wuzhong District, Suzhou, since 2010. He described a restructuring of the youth board over the last two years to give student volunteers expanded leadership roles — including officers who run meetings, make motions and lead projects — rather than only performing assigned volunteer tasks.

Wang described recent exchanges: a delegation sent to Tome in June 2024 and a student delegation hosted from Wuzhong in September 2024. The organization also sponsors scholarships for high school students and participates in the Southlake Spring Festival and other community events. Wang named scholarship recipients and youth awardees presented earlier in the year.

Wang said rising travel costs and demographic shifts in partner cities pose challenges; Tome’s population dropped while Southlake’s has grown. He described exploratory outreach to a city near Hamburg, Germany (population roughly 55,000, according to his presentation), noting neighborhood demographic ties and easier travel access from DFW as reasons to pursue a European sister city. Wang said he had arranged contact between Southlake leaders and a Hamburg mayor’s office and that discussions were ongoing.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Talley, who serves on the sister cities board, thanked Wang and said the group had been unable to travel during the COVID‑19 period but had resumed exchanges. Councilmembers welcomed prospective European links and praised the youth leadership development efforts.