Congratulations to California State Representatives Kathleen Roche-Tansey and Pat Fallin for receiving the Sister Cities International Distinguished Service Award at the 61st Sister Cities International Annual Conference in Virginia Beach. Their combined years of service is 61 years!

Ms. Roche-Tansey and Ms. Fallin are vital to Sister Cities International in Washington, D.C. and the Sister Cities International Southern California Chapter as they ensure a smooth flow of communication between the two organizations and have a wealth of historical information regarding sister city organizations in the Southern California region.

Kathleen Roche-Tansey oversees Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties to the Arizona Border. Kathleen is a graduate of the University of Southern California. She did post-graduate studies at the University of Valencia in Spain and the Goethe Institute in Berlin. Kathleen is a retired educator and District Counselor for San Diego Unified School District. She lived in Berlin for two years, teaching at the US Department of Defense school. Kathleen is the former Chair of the International Affairs Board for the City of San Diego. In 1993, she was elected founding President of the San Diego International Sister Cities Association. In 2001, she was elected to the Board of Directors of Sister Cities International (SCI) for two terms and served as Secretary of the Board. Since 2007 she has been a State Coordinator for SCI and a member of the Conference and Membership Committees. She is a member of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club and serves as Co-Chair of the International Service Committee. Through Rotary she has raised funds for water and sanitation projects at five school in Indonesia and an HIV/AIDS Clinic in Bali. Most recently she supported the introduction of a digital learning project to a rural area of Fiji. Her Rotary Club is supporting her Sister School project in San Diego and their partner school in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Pat Fallin oversees Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Ms. Fallin has served more than (12) years as Vice President and Secretary of the board for Sister Cities International. She also has served for (4) years as a Sister City State Coordinator in Colorado where she was a member of the Aspen City Council . Mrs. Fallin has worked on many fund raising projects for Colorado’s Sister Cities program and numerous community organizations. Mrs. Fallin continues to serve Sister Cities International as a member of the Finance and Membership Committees. Over the years, Mrs. Fallin’s focus was membership development.Moving closer to family, Mrs. Fallin recently made a move to Southern California and serves as a member of the Santa Barbara, Puerta Vallarta Sister City Program. Mrs. Fallin brings of wealth of experience to the SOCAL board and her local sister city program.