Vanessa R. Williams has earned the description of the “glue that holds 650 African American mayors together.”

The International Association of Mayors of African Descent is visionary mayors and leaders united for the purpose and vision of establishing the platform in which education, empowerment, and economic development through trust, trade, training, and tourism.

“The next step for me was an international step because as we began to grow the organization domestically, we started seeing the similarities of conditions of the quality of life or the lack thereof both with Africans living on the continent of Africa,” Williams stated.

Today, the International Conference of Black Mayors represents the well over 39,000 African American, African, Afro-Caribbean, Latino and European mayors and local elected officials located throughout the African Diaspora.

“What we’ve done over the last 10 to 15 years is really quietly organize mayors of African descent throughout the globe,” Williams said.