OKC's David Holt, US mayors announce international diplomatic initiative with coalition

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt is helping lead a bipartisan coalition of American mayors and global leaders in raising awareness of international diplomacy's effect on local communities, officials announced this week.

The new partnership between the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and the U.S. Conference of Mayors will allow both organizations to better showcase mayoral perspectives on global issues by hosting events, fostering dialogues and collaborating on messaging. The intent, they said, is to highlight the significance of advocacy at the international level by mayors from different U.S. cities and the impact of decisions from other countries on local governments.

"American cities are increasingly global cities, and so it is vital that Mayors stay engaged in global affairs and foreign policy," Holt, vice chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors' International Affairs Committee, said Wednesday in a news release. "We are excited for our new partnership with USGLC, as their expertise will help boost our diplomatic efforts at the city level."

A longtime member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's Oklahoma State Advisory Committee, Holt also is currently the second vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and will become president of the organization in 2025. He traveled to Washington, D.C., in mid-January to attend the mayoral group's 92nd Annual Winter Meeting, where the announcement of the partnership with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition was made.

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Representatives from both organizations said the goal is to better illustrate how communities across the country, including Oklahoma City, are affected by foreign policy issues, such as trade agreements and global supply chains, energy prices, immigration law, and the prevalence of fentanyl amid the opioid epidemic.

"Increasingly, mayors are establishing international partnerships and working to boost trade relationships with countries and cities abroad," Tom Cochran, CEO and executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said in a statement. "We’re proud of this new partnership with USGLC which will help prevent isolationism and keep our U.S. economy strong and help promote local job growth."

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, or USGLC, is a broad network of hundreds of businesses and nongovernmental organizations, national security and foreign policy experts, and various community leaders from across the country. The coalition has historically advocated for a higher International Affairs budget as a way of advancing national security and business interests and improving humanitarian assistance around the world.

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"There is nothing foreign about foreign policy anymore," said USGLC President and CEO Liz Schrayer, who established the coalition in 1995. "What is happening at kitchen tables in every city around our country is impacted by what is happening around the world — whether it's climate change, global health, the fentanyl and opioid crisis, or our competitive global economy."

"Mayors get this better than most as some of the most knowledgeable, passionate and important voices at the frontline dealing with global issues that land on their front door every day," Schrayer continued. "While Mayors have long been an active part of USGLC’s nationwide network we are thrilled to launch this new partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to help tell this story and support the importance of America’s engagement in the world."

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Holt, US mayors announce diplomatic initiative with global coalition