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The Albanian double-headed eagle

About the Initiative

Count Me Albanian

National Albanian Registry

Vision

A permanent institution, not a campaign.

Count Me Albanian is a nationwide initiative to identify, register, and unite Albanians and their descendants living in the United States through a secure, voluntary, privacy-protected registry.

The goal is to establish the first credible, data-driven organization for Albanian demographic, economic, and educational advancement in the United States. This initiative is designed to function as a permanent national institution, not a temporary campaign.

Verified data on

  • Population size
  • Geographic concentration
  • Business ownership
  • Professional industries
  • Educational levels
  • Civic engagement

This data will power

  • National advocacy
  • Scholarship funding
  • Business networking
  • Community visibility
  • Long-term institutional growth

The case

Why this matters

01

Institutional Leverage

Without data, we lack measurable influence. With it, we gain advocacy strength.

02

Economic Visibility

Reliable data attracts funding and strengthens national business networks.

03

Generational Positioning

We are building a legacy document, the Albanian Impact Report, to serve as a resource for decades to come.

Team

Who runs NAR.

The board is volunteer. Two Albanian Americans lead day-to-day. Regional ambassadors are being named in eight states.

ET

Founder

Ervin Toro

Albanian American based in New York. Host of an 85-episode Albanian American podcast featuring conversations with diaspora leaders, business owners, religious figures, and political organizers across the United States. Founded NAR after seeing the persistent gap between the Census number and what the community actually knows about itself.

EZ

Subject-matter expert · Digital lead

Enri Zhulati

Albanian American. Ten-year SEO and conversion-marketing veteran. Built the registry technology and the verified-data infrastructure. Author of NAR's diaspora and citizenship-law content — including the 2020 Citizenship Law guide.

Regional ambassadors are listed publicly. The board roster is published in our annual Impact Report.

Legacy

We've shaped America. We've never been counted.

Statue of Mother Teresa, born Anjezë Bojaxhiu, in Tirana
Anjezë Bojaxhiu — Mother Teresa — was Albanian. So were John Belushi, Eliza Dushku, Jim Belushi, Regis Philbin, Ferid Murad, and Eliza Hittman. The Albanian American diaspora has shaped American science, film, business, and faith.
Be counted →

History

We've been doing this for a century.

A 1920 hand-painted postcard by Spiridon Ilo showing the Albanian double-headed eagle on a red field with gold tassels
Spiridon Ilo, an Albanian immigrant in Boston, printed patriotic postcards like this in 1920 to fund Albanian community organizing — what would later become the Vatra society and the first wave of diaspora institutions. The Albanian American story is over a century old. We've just never been formally counted. NAR is finishing the count.
A Tirana mural in red and black showing an Albanian footballer and the words NE JEMI NJË — We Are One

Ne jemi një

We are one.

From Tirana to Detroit, Pristina to the Bronx, Skopje to Worcester — Albanians are one people. Borders, generations, dialects don't change that. Counting ourselves doesn't make us more Albanian. It makes us more visible.

Be counted →