Since 1992 the Novgorod Alliance, a nonprofit organization of volunteers, has been working on the initiatives established by its membership: improved communication, education of medical staff, provision of equipment, and cultural exchange with the community of Velikiy Novgorod.

More than 350 health care professionals and others in the community of Northern Virginia have joined together in this endeavor. Novgorod Alliance members have offered their professional expertise, organizational efforts, commitment and friendship to achieve these goals and have become more knowledgeable about the Russian people and their culture.

The membership includes physicians, nurses, technicians, administrators, artists and artisans, performers, translators and international development consultants. Members who have visited Velikiy Novgorod have a better understanding of the challenges and difficulties that the Russian people are facing in the twenty-first century.

The Novgorod Medical Alliance, established in 2000 by a core group of Novgorodians, has goals similar to the Novgorod Alliance. The two Alliances are working together on joint projects to help the community of Velikiy Novgorod.

Velikiy Novgorod, Novgorod the Great, the oldest city in Russia, dates back as early as 859 AD in her well-preserved birch bark chronicles. Novgorod means “New City” and has served for many centuries as a major northern fortress and trade route crossroads.

Today Velikiy Novgorod, with a population of 240,000, is located approximately 180 kilometers south of St. Petersburg on the main highway connecting it with Moscow.