Acuña Guba Speaks at Mayor's International Dinner for Sister Cities

From a Google search to becoming President of the Sister Cities Youth Board, Nara Acuña Guba ’25 found her passion for traveling and a growing fondness for Fort Worth.

On November 14, Acuña Guba attended the Mayor’s International Dinner and Global Awards at the Fort Worth Zoo, where she was a flag bearer for the United States and gave a speech. She spoke about how Sister Cities has had an impact on her. 

Acuña Guba highlighted the central role of community in her experiences, emphasizing the meaningful connections she has cultivated locally and abroad. She reflected on her involvement with Global Leaders in Action (GLA), a program sponsored by Sister Cities that brings students from Eswatini and China to Fort Worth for a summer camp and community service projects. Hosting international students through GLA gave her a fresh perspective on her hometown, deepening her appreciation for Fort Worth and its community. “That experience  .. kind of changed my perspective of Fort Worth as well because I was hosting students. I was able to see Fort Worth  in a new light and it made me really grow a fondness for Fort Worth and my community.” 

Along with global awards, the gala featured a raffle and silent auction to support Sister Cities.

“There's an auction, a lot of cool prizes like a Porsche e-bike. It's kind of fancy and fun. And then the awards were for people who have really committed their lives to making Fort Worth a better place, both culturally, and in general,” she said.

How did Acuña Guba have the opportunity to attend this event you may ask? Let’s start at the beginning. 

During her sophomore year, Acuña Guba was searching for fun things to do in Fort Worth and discovered Fort Worth Sister Cities. She attended a Chinese mid-autumn festival and after learning more, she realized they had exchange trips where she could explore other countries with other Fort Worth students. That summer, she went to Nagaoka, Japan. It was on that trip that she realized Acuña Guba wanted to be more involved. She ran for the Executive Board position of e Financial Officer. A year later, and after a trip to Trier, Germany, Acuña Guba ran for President. 

As President, she works with the staff of Sister Cities who help manage the trips as well as hosts various fundraisers around Fort Worth. She also schedules and runs meetings with the Youth Executive Board and the youth membership.

Right now, the Executive Board, which includes Gigi Helling ’26 as Vice President and Sean Hong ’27 as Secretary, is working on a service project.

“Last year, we had a school supply drive and a field day for some students at a refugee apartment area,” Acuña Guba said. “We got to play with these kids and give them these little goody bags full of school supplies. We're looking at something similar this year nother big part of my job is to just get the awareness of Sister Cities out there.”

What’s next? Acuña Guba will finish her term in 2025 before heading off to college and is traveling to Guiyang, China with Sean Hong ’27 over the summer.