GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) -- Action Greensboro is touting the success of its Boomerang Greensboro Initiative. It’s been recognized on an international stage in London with an award presented at the City Nation Place Global Conference. Action Greensboro’s executive director said the award is a testimony of the nonprofit's hard work through its initiative to bring what they call boomerangs back to the city. That’s what they call people who grew up in Greensboro but left and have come back to the city. “We were really, really thrilled to be awarded the best Communication Strategy for Economic Development Award,” Executive Director of Action Greensboro Cecelia Thompson said. Action Greensboro competed against several initiatives from around the world at the City Nation Place Global Conference in London. Its Boomerang Greensboro initiative stood out. "The jurors really found that it was a community-led initiative that was creative ... used a lot of different strategies from our customized boomerang boxes that we mail to quarterly postcards to our high tech component of digital outreach to boomerangs,” Thompson said. It works to attract people back to the city to be a part of the local workforce and connects people with prominent employers in the region. “Oftentimes when we meet with boomerangs, we have to think about transferable skills ... What that means is you may be working in one industry or one skill set in a company somewhere else, and that company may not exist here,” Thompson said. Ike Mango is a boomerang. He is an analyst in the Corporate Planning Division at Honda Aircraft Company. He had lived in Greensboro since he was eight years old. He went off to college at UNC Chapel Hill. Before coming back to the city, He lived in Japan for two years where he taught English through a teaching program. “I decided I was kind of ready to come back home and move on and figure out what I wanted to do next ... I was a little uncertain of what career path I wanted to pursue,” Mango said. To figure out what was next, he was recommended to action Greensboro. “When he told me that he was fluent in Japanese, it sort of hit a light bulb, and I said, 'We have Japanese companies here in Greensboro. Toyota ... Honda Jet,'” Thomspon said. It’s been one year since Mango has been in his role at Honda Aircraft Company. He said the Boomerang Greensboro Initiative was a great help in making it happen. “I love the process. I was always kind of anxious about sending out resumes and applying to a lot of different jobs ... It's really hard if you don't have connections as well ... Cecilia definitely offered that kind of gateway into Honda aircraft ... Without her, it would have been a much more difficult process to get this job,” Mango said. Since its launch in 2019, the initiative has engaged over 23,000 people through social media and digital content and helped welcome 85 families back to Greensboro. “I'm excited about the enthusiasm that we've built locally for this campaign,” Thompson said. Action Greensboro was also a finalist in the best use of data category at the conference in London. It’s using data to see where people are going after moving away from Greensboro and their specific industries to better understand what may draw them back to the city.