MN Regional team
NAR in Minnesota.
1 ambassador organizing the count locally. 4 Albanians on the registry from Minnesota so far.
Director of Outreach
National outreach director.
Sets cross-state strategy and recruits state directors. Minnesota's ambassadors report up here until a state-specific director is seated.
Iliriana Sela
Director of Outreach · National
Minnesota ambassadors report to Iliriana.
Ambassadors in Minnesota
Regional ambassadors on the ground.
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Klajdi Rrezhda
Regional Ambassador
I’m passionate about bringing the Albanian community in Minnesota closer together through networking, cultural events, and meaningful connections. Over the years, I have enjoyed helping Albanian families, professionals, and businesses connect with opportunities and support one another. I am also Co-Founder of AlbPortal, a platform built to strengthen community and business connections within the Albanian diaspora. I believe strong communities are built through trust, collaboration, and creating spaces where people can grow together while staying connected to their roots.
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Why Minnesota matters
A real count is where the work starts.
ACS 2024 estimate
800
Federal count
Community estimate
3,200–4,000
Methodology page
On NAR today
4
From Minnesota
Capture rate
0.50%
vs. ACS
As Minnesota'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.
Minnesota ranks in the published ACS Albanian-ancestry counts at 800 (2024). Nationwide the Census counts 224,000 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.
Apply
Join the Minnesota 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 →