On May 19th, 2018, the Northern and Southern California Chapters of Sister Cities International gathered for a bi-annual meeting in Bakersfield, California. Speakers included Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh, Bakersfield Sister City Project Corporation President John Hefner, SCI NorCal President Bill Hinkle, — SCI SoCal President Anthony Al-Jamie, Sister Cities International Chairman Tim Quigley, Sister Cities International President Roger-Mark de Souza, Bakersfield Sister City Project Corporation’s former President Sue Stone & Youth Chair Evan Sproul, Bakersfield City Recreation & Park Director Dianne Hoover and Bakersfield Councilman Ken Weir. A Featured Presentation by California State University Bakersfield Philosophy & Religious Studies Dept. Chair & former CSU Academic Senate Chair Dr. Jacquelyn Kegley was followed by a panel discussion on fundraising by Cal State Bakersfield Foundation Director of Development Heath Niemeyer, Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Foundation VP / Chief Philanthropy Officer Susan Benham and Tel-Tec Security Systems President Morgan Clayton. The final speaker was Gakushuin Women’s University Professor Dr. Tadayoshi Kaya, who spoke by live webcam from Japan about how a 1989 homestay experience as part of the San Bernardino – Tachikawa, Japan sister city relationship helped change him from being shy and not fond of English to becoming an applied linguist and publishing textbooks through the Japanese Ministry of English for children and high school students to learn English.