The SCSCA Association was founded in 1980 by a group of volunteers seeking to improve the people-to-people connections between Seattle, USA, and Christchurch, New Zealand. Through sister city programs, grassroots citizen groups and local governments work together to promote international understanding and goodwill through person-to-person contacts. Out of the exchange of ideas and shared experiences, true friendships develop. ​The Board of Directors meets in the Seattle area approximately once a month to plan the various activities of the Association. These activities include celebrating Anzac Day, and Waitangi Day, gardening at the Seattle Arboretum where there is a special area with native NZ trees and flowers, annual summer picnics, the annual dinner at the Yacht Club, ties with the Burke Museum and Woodland Park Zoo, a college scholarship to fund a student to study in New Zealand, and more.