The Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN), a regional coordinator for the U.S.-Nicaragua sister cities program, was established in 1984 by Mirette Seireg, Wisconsin Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette, and others in reaction to the U.S. foreign policy toward the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. In subsequent years the executive directors of WCCN have been Mirette Seireg (1984-1987), Liz Chilsen (1987-1990), Sonia Taddy (1990-1994), and Julie Andersen (1994- ).
The founders were motivated by the need for accurate information and education about Nicaragua and better coordination of activities of concerned groups and individuals. As a result, WCCN worked to promote the official sister state relationship between Wisconsin and Nicaragua, which began in 1964 and which became a vehicle for peacemaking and citizen diplomacy through the promotion of cultural, social and political understanding and exchange of humanitarian and developmental assistance. WCCN was involved not only in sister city exchanges but it also worked with environmentalists, health professionals, and religious groups. To promote the Nicaragua sister city movement, WCCN also worked in close cooperation with the Nicaraguan government. It hosted the U.S.-Nicaragua Friendship Conference in Madison in 1986, which with more than 20 sister-city groups represented, later became an annual event. In 1987 the U.S.-Nicaragua Sister Cities Conference was held in Seattle and in 1988 it was held in Managua.
In 1990, as part of the Ad Hoc Coalition of U.S.-Nicaragua Sister Cities Election Observation, WCCN sent a delegation to Nicaragua to monitor and assist in verifying the elections as free and fair. The U.S. sister cities formed the largest contingent of election observers, with 40 sister cities and 400 citizen observers. WCCN's delegation of 20 observers was led by former governor Anthony Earl.
WCCN coordinated their activities with many national, state and local groups such as Nukewatch, Pledge of Resistance, Wisconsin Greens, Medical Aid to Central America, the Madison Contragate Action Team (a local chapter of the Christic Institute), Wisconsin Action Coalition (WAC), Salvatorian Mission, and the Wisconsin Interfaith Committee on Central America (WICOCA). It was also a member of the Nicaragua Network, for whom WCCN was an area organizer and for whom it sponsored local speakers. In 1985 WCCN co-sponsored and helped to coordinate the Wisconsin Central American Information Week organized by the Interreligious Foundation on Community Organizations (IFCO). This event was a series of public events that brought speakers to more than 100 communities around Wisconsin. WCCN also worked with the Madison Institute to help organize the 1986 Contradora Conference to bring together representatives of the Contradora Peace Process and present ideas for peace in Central America. They brought numerous other public speakers to Wisconsin, including Nicaraguan Vice President Sergio Ramirez and (with the Environmental Project on Central America of the Earth Island Institute) Lorenzo Cardenal, the director of Nicaragua's Park Service. WCCN has become active with trade and investment and women's issues. Beginning in 1992 WCCN became involved with the Nicaraguan Community Development Loan Fund as a joint project with the Nicaraguan Council of Protestant Churches (CEPAD). This organization directed loans to Nicaraguan borrowers from U.S. investors for the purpose of economic development in low-income communities.
In 1988 WCCN published Friends in Deed: the Story of U.S.-Nicaragua Sister Cities, by executive director Liz Chilsen and staff person Sheldon Rampton to serve as a guide to sister city activities and a directory of organizations. They also compiled a media resources manual and a directory of Central American support groups in Wisconsin. As of 1999, when the initial donation of records were arranged and described, WCCN continued in operation.
