Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s international affairs office hosted visits from 33 countries and territories, aided a new export plan for the city, planned a trade mission to Brazil and initiated a movement to help the city welcome its growing immigrant community – all in its first year.
After three years of pledges, Mr. Reed last September came through on an announced plan to reopen city’s international affairs office, which had been axed in 2008 due to budget cuts.
Led by director Claire Angelle, formerly of the French consulate general in Atlanta, the three-person crew has created a central point of contact for the mayor’s efforts to boost the city’s global profile and interact with the international community locally. The team has also helped plan Mr. Reed’s international trips. He attended the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January, headed to Brazil in April, recently spoke in China and is set to visit South Africa in October.
In Cape Town, the mayor plans to attend the Nobel Laureates international summit, which last November Atlanta won the rights to host in 2015.
“Since the re-opening of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, the City of Atlanta has tremendously increased its global outreach not only by attracting large scale international events such as the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, but also through its participation in highly recognized rendezvous including the World Economic Forum. As a result, Atlanta is increasingly on the radar of foreign investors, sources of added-value jobs for Atlantans,” Ms. Angelle told Global Atlanta in an emailed statement.
Other initiatives of the office include participating in an effort to launch a Metropolitan Export Plan for Atlanta as part of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase’s Global Cities Initiative.
The office also helped organize a experience Atlanta tour for the consular corps, announced an effort to refocus the sister-cities program and worked on the Welcoming America initiative, which seeks to engage local immigrant communities and make sure they’re included in the business and social life of the city.
“I’m honored to have had the opportunity to work with Mayor Reed on these critical international initiatives for the past year. I look forward to continuing working with our community and international partners to ensure Atlanta’s success on the global stage,” Ms. Angelle said.
See the office’s year in review here.
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