On April 27th, Ivet Bahar, PhD was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Bahar is the John K. Vries Chair and distinguished professor of computational biology, department of computational and systems biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She joins one of the world's most distinguished science institutions, entering in as one of only 120 members elected this year. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Bahar and celebrating this momentous occasion.

On April 23 ^rd , TCA commemorated the 100 ^th  anniversary of National Sovereignty & Children’s Day and the founding of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.   Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, this brave assembly led the Turkish war of independence with great sacrifices under the near impossible circumstances leading to the establishment of modern Turkish Republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.  TCA's Chairman and Founder, Dr. Yalcin Ayasli, participated in the Ataturk Society of America’s 100 ^th  Year Anniversary Virtual Celebration as a keynote speaker and was the recipient of the organization’s Ataturk Distinguished Humanitarian Award.

On March 5th and April 23rd, TCA hosted its second and third webinars for the Turkish American Women’s Leadership Initiative.  The April 23 ^rd webinar featured Aycha Sawa who talked about her election win on April 7 as the City Comptroller of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The March 5 ^th webinar featured the four women from the Turkish American community who are running for elected office in 2020— Aylin Acikalin , judge in New Orleans, Louisiana;  Leah Ersoylu , trustee in the Newport Mesa United School District in Orange County, California;  Ceylan Rowe , state representative in the Massachusetts legislature and Aycha Sawa , comptroller in Milwaukee.*  A recording of the webinar can be found  here .  

On April 21 ^st , Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN/9th) with the co-sponsorship of Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC/5 ^th ) introduced  House Resolution 931 - Congratulating the people of the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Americans nationwide on Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day .  The resolution also recognized the founding of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 23, 1920. TCA extends its formal gratitude to these Members of Congress and supports this bi-partisan outreach to the Turkish American community.

On April 7 ^th , Aycha Sawa, who participates in the TCA Turkish American Women’s Leadership Initiative, was elected as the 12th Turkish American to public office as City Comptroller of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the first Turkish American woman to be the chief financial officer of a major American city and the second woman ever elected to city office in Milwaukee.

In March, TCA became the first Turkish American organization to become a National Partner with the U.S. Census Bureau (for a full list of partners click here ). Please check out TCA's  Turkish American Guide to the 2020 Census  to see how you can shape the Turkish American Community's future with the current Census.

*Please note: as a 501(c)3 charitable organization, TCA is prohibited by law from engaging in activities that could be construed as political campaigning. TCA cannot and does not donate funds to a political action committee or support any political candidate or group of candidates. With this initiative, TCA is not endorsing or supporting any candidate for any office.