CA Regional team
Counting Albanian Americans in California.
NAR — the National Albanian Registry — is the community-led count. 31 counted in California so far.
1 ambassador organizing the count locally.
Director of Outreach
National outreach director.
Sets cross-state strategy and recruits state directors. California's ambassadors report up here until a state-specific director is seated.
Iliriana Sela
Director of Outreach · National
California ambassadors report to Iliriana.
Ambassadors in California
Regional ambassadors on the ground.
- K
Klaudio Terpo
Regional Ambassador
Why California matters
A real count is where the work starts.
ACS 2020-2024 estimate
4,983
Federal count
Community estimate
19,932–24,915
Methodology page
On NAR today
31
From California
Capture rate
0.62%
vs. ACS
As California's Albanian community becomes visible in the data systems institutions actually use, the recognition story gets stronger — for bilingual-ballot petitions in jurisdictions with significant limited-English Albanian populations, for hospital interpreter staffing, for school home-language reporting, and for university heritage programs. None of these unlock automatically from a count; they come from sustained organizing on top of one. The Census ACS stays the official federal source; NAR builds the parallel community count alongside it.
California concentrations
LA metro, Bay Area
California's Albanian population is dispersed across LA metro and the Bay Area. Less concentrated than East Coast but the largest absolute numbers among western states.
California ranks in the published ACS Albanian-ancestry counts at 4,983 (2020-2024). Nationwide the Census counts 230,000 Albanian Americans while community estimates put us close to a million — and the same gap shows up here. NAR is the community-led parallel count that sits alongside the ACS, one self-attestation at a time.
Organizations in California
4 Albanian organizations.
Religious institutions, charities, schools, and cultural associations — free to list, claimable by the people who run them.
Businesses in California
2 Albanian-owned businesses.
Added by the owners themselves. Listing is free.
- Restaurant / café
San Diego, CA
Restaurant and café in San Diego, CA.
- Construction / trades
Torrance, CA
Construction and trades business in Torrance, CA.
Apply
Join the California team.
Each state seats up to three Regional Ambassadors plus one state outreach lead. Volunteer role. Listed publicly. Reimbursed expenses for one local event a year.
Or browse all states with open spots →