HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - AIPCA Meeting Minutes from July 17, 2025Ames International Partner Cities Association
July 17, 2025
Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Karla McCollum, Marina Kraeva, Laura Hansen, Nicki Mackey, Jessica Fincham,
and Valerie Stallbaumer
1. Call to Order by Karla at 5:30pm.
2. First discussion was a presentation by Nahedli Sulaiman, originally from Homs,
Syria, wanting to establish a partnership between his region of Syria and Ames,
IA. He said that he tried to talk with the AIPCA about this opportunity three
years ago, but Syria was soon in a war. He would like to see an exchange of
students between the cities so that they could learn new ideas and help
establish a sense of community and co-existence.
Karla said that emails need to be secured to discuss possible student exchanges.
Overall, the AIPCA members did not think that we have enough volunteers to
work with another partner city now. But maybe the school systems could
initiate something on their own.
3. Plans were discussed about a Consulate Welcome event on Oct. 16 for Kosovo
with about 30-40 people. It could be a wine tasting experience and maybe some
for sale since Fareway already has some of the Kosovo wines.
4. Official business followed: June minutes were approved by Marina and
seconded by Nicki. Treasury report was approved by Marina and seconded by
Nicki. We need an event committee to plan for visits from Koshu and from
Podujeva. Jessica will call Executive Express to see about the costs of
transportation to and from the Des Moines airport.
5. Concerning visits from Koshu in 2026, Laura said that she has a committee to
work on these details. How many middle school students and how many
adults? What dates? What costs do we pay? We may be able to get a grant from
the state organization and some funds from the City of Ames.
6. Karla noted that Cindy Hicks said she will talk with the Kiwanis group about
joining the Kosova Kiwanis. She will also ask Eric Smidt of the Ames Regional
Economic Alliance to be on the Koshu committee.
7. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00pm.