Tunisian Americans are
Americans of
Tunisian descent.
Tunisia–United States relations date back more than 200 years.
History
Prior to the arrival of Peace Corps and Amideast volunteers in the early-1960s and 1970s, there was little interest on the part of Tunisians to emigrate to the US. In 1981, the U.S. launched its Technology Transfer Program in Tunisia with the goal of increasing Tunisia's long-term capacity to apply new technologies in support of the development of a market economy. The Technology Transfer Program aimed to accomplish this by developing a substantial cadre of individuals with the skills and attitudes needed to develop and sustain a competitive, open market system. USAID/Tunis to date has obligated $45 million under the Project, has dispersed all but about $3 million of that total.
Through the TTP, young and intelligent Tunisians were granted the opportunity to pursue studies in the United States. By the late-1990s, the number of Tunisians in United States started to grow, reaching around 8,000 through the launch of the
Diversity Immigrant Visa program.
Building a Tunisian-American community
In 1998, the idea of building a Tunisian-American community was born; an impossible task, considering the dispersion of the community (basically diluted between the West Coast, Northeast and Southeast areas) and the size of the country. At that time, the Internet and high-tech telecommunications started to grow and evolve.
So, the strategy was to build a virtual community that would, in time, be merged with the offline community. By late 1998, way before Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, http://www.tunisiancommunity.org/ became ''"the Cultural Home"'' for Tunisians in America and the Tunisian Community Center, their institution. The modest website, with the help of several tech-savvy Tunisian volunteers over the years, became what is now a powerful, interactive Web presence.
Over the years, in spite of always being seen thru a "political lens", thanks to steadfast leadership and many dedicated volunteers, the organization was able to inspire the formation o
local chaptersthat operate autonomously, but carry out the mission of the organization by conducting community-based activities that raise the profile of Tunisia in the United States and promote cross-cultural literacy.
Notable people
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Bruce Allen (American football)
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George Allen (American politician)
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Jennifer Allen
Jennifer Allen (born 1961) is an American author and commentator. She has worked for the NFL Network and as an on-air reporter. She is the daughter of football coach George Allen and sister of politician George Allen and football executive B ...
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Max Azria
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Aziza Baccouche
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M. Salah Baouendi
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Leila Ben Youssef
Leila Maryam Ben Youssef ( ar, ليلى مريم بن يوسف; born November 13, 1981 in Sidney, Montana, United States) is a Tunisian-American pole vaulter. She is a multiple-time Tunisian record holder in the pole vault, and a gold medalist at ...
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Mounir Laroussi
Mounir Laroussi (born August 9, 1955) is a Tunisian-American scientist. He is known for his work in plasma science, especially low temperature plasmas and their biomedical applications.
Biography
Early life
Mounir Laroussi was born and rais ...
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Peter Coyote
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Miled Faiza Miled Faiza ( ar, ميلاد فايزه, translit=Mīlād Fāyzah; born 1974) is a Tunisian-American writer.
Career
Miled Faiza was born in Monastir, Tunisia in 1974. He published his first book of poetry in 2004 and his poetry has been transl ...
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Ben Guez
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Suleika Jaouad
Suleika Jaouad ( ; ar, سليكة جواد) is an American writer, advocate, and motivational speaker. She is the author of the "Life, Interrupted" column in ''The New York Times'' and has also written for ''Vogue, Glamour'', NPR's ''All Thing ...
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Colette Justine
Colette Justine, better known as Colette Lumiere, is a French Born in Tunisia-and later naturalized American . The multimedia artist is well known since the seventies for her pioneering work in performance art, street art, and photographic t ...
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David Mazouz
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Anissa Naouai
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Ghaya Oliveira
Ghaya Oliveira is a Tunisian-born chef who works at the New York City-based restaurant Daniel as pastry chef. She was named the Outstanding Pastry Chef at the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2017.
Career
Ghaya Oliveira was born in Tunisia. Some ...
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Nick Valensi
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Noël Wells
See also
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Tunisia–United States relations
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North Africans in the United States
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Tunisian Canadians
Tunisian Canadians ( ar, التونسيون الكنديون) are Canadians of Tunisian descent or Tunisians who have Canadian citizenship.
Most Tunisian Canadians speak Arabic, French or English. According to the 2016 Census there were 25,64 ...
References
External links
The Tunisian American Center
{{Tunisian diaspora
Arab American
North Africans in the United States