County of Santa Clara/Moscow Sister County Commission
Commission Updates
Following the invasion of Ukraine, on March 22, 2022, the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning all actions by the Russian government against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and to end the relationship between County of Santa Clara and the governments of the City and Region of Moscow. Read the formal Resolution.
During its 27 years in existence, the County of Santa Clara/Moscow Commission has done good work, most of it through citizen-to-citizen connections. The Commission has fostered useful exchanges of information with Non-Governmental Organizations in Russia regarding various social issues; provided sponsorship of Russian arts in our county; established an Educational Connections Program at the school level to foster shared learning among Russian and American students; and secured Open World grants to host delegations that have shared best practices with visitors on preventing domestic violence, promoting inclusive education, and other topics of common interest.
The Commission continues to operate and will continue its work through citizen-to-citizen connections.
Commission Highlights - 2020
The Moscow Commission was awarded its 6th Open World Grant from the US Congress. The Commission hosted a five-member Russian delegation under the theme “Combating Domestic Violence” in early March 2020. The delegation focused on a program, developed in coordination with the County of Santa Clara Office of Gender-Based Violence Prevention, that included meeting with and touring local organizations to learn about best practices for preventing domestic violence, screening for its occurrence and supporting its victims.
Commission Highlights - 2018
The Commission was awarded its 5th Open World grant from the US Congress. The Moscow Commission will host a Public Defenders delegation from Moscow in September of 2018. The delegates will participate in discussions and field trips throughout the County and will be home-hosted by county residents.
Through the Moscow Commission’s Education Connection program, Dr. Kate Booth, Christopher High School’s theater teacher, conducted a series of theater workshops at the Slavic-Anglo-American School in Moscow in February.
The Slavic-Anglo-American-School sent a theater delegation to Christopher High School in March. The Russian students, who were home hosted by Gilroy families, participated in theater workshops and performed a joint production of Fahrenheit 451 with Christopher High School students.
Commission Highlights - 2017
Christopher High School in Gilroy sent a delegation to Moscow in March to participate in the Slavic-Anglo-American School’s Shakespeare festival. The delegation was comprised of 15 students and 2 teachers. In addition to performing their own pieces in the festival, the Christopher High School students and the Slavic-Anglo-American School students joined forces to present a crowd-pleasing interpretation of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”.
A delegate from the Moscow Commission visited the hospital school at the Dima Rogachev Scientific Centre of Children's Oncology in Moscow to explore future collaborations with the hospital school at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital.
The Moscow Commission hosted its 4th Open World delegation in September/October. The theme of this delegation was Inclusive Education. The delegates visited 13 organizations in Santa Clara County that provide inclusive education programs for both children and adults with mental disabilities. Abilities United, one of the local organizations, and Veras, one of the delegate’s organization, have applied for another grant to enable them to share best practices on Social Inclusivity for adults with mental impairments.
The Commission is self-supporting and promotes positive exchanges without receiving governmental assistance.
Contact Information:
County of Santa Clara/Moscow Sister County Commission
Office of the County Executive
Attn: Office of Communications and Public Affairs
70 W. Hedding St., 11th Floor
San Jose, CA 95110
PH: (408) 299-5115
Email: [email protected]