Henriette Mahamane
Pioneer for International Relations and for bringing the Urban Diplomacy Conference to Leeds
Job Title: International Relations Manager for Leeds City Council
Organisation: Leeds City Council
Event: Urban Diplomacy Partnership Conference
Date of Conference: 19th – 21st June 2023
About the event:
The Urban Diplomacy Partnership Conference is a conference held between German and UK cities. For 2023, the conference was delivered in partnership by The Urban Diplomacy Exchange (UDE) and Leeds City Council.
The Conference was the first of its kind for German-British partnerships and reflects Leeds’ exciting twin-city partnership with Dortmund. Key objectives of the conference were to promote working relationships, sustainability, solutions to global challenges and exciting opportunities for inward investment and exports.
The 2023 Conference saw German and British city mayors, leaders and senior officers descend on the city of Leeds, where delegates heard about current partnership developments and essential knowledge exchange between cities. 2023’s event saw interesting VIP keynote talks, including one from The German Ambassador about urban diplomacy and German-British relations.
About Henriette:
As International Relations Manager for Leeds City Council, Henriette has been involved in many exciting, global projects over the years helping to shape and strengthen the city’s international relationships.
Not only has she worked on bringing the Urban Diplomacy Partnership Conference to Leeds, but she has worked on the French ICC Immersion UK programme, as part of President Macron’s multi-million Euro initiative, France 2030, and developed relationships with the Auschwitz- Birkenau Foundation and the British Embassy in Warsaw, ahead of the UK’s chairing of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Henriette has also led on the Home Office funded ‘Challenging Conversations’ Project, has developed and coordinated an EU settlement Scheme strategy for Leeds along with the Migration Access programme, which provides support to Migrants arriving in Leeds.
Henriette also works to develop community-based projects for the city’s most deprived neighbourhoods, and has established an exciting twin city programme, which has seen one of these neighbourhoods twin with the evolving Moulins neighbourhood in Lille, France. She also has a passion for women’s leadership, equality and diversity and she works tirelessly to create opportunities for groups who tend to be excluded from high profile international projects.