Turkish Coffee Lady

Gizem Salcıgil White, Turkish Coffee Lady, Founder of Turkish Coffee Truck & Turkayfe.org, Founder of Turkish Coffee Chats with Future Leaders Series, President of American Turkish Association of Washington DC (ATA-DC), Vice President of Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA).

She is the founder of the “Turkish Coffee Truck” project, which promotes Turkey through engagement and cultural diplomacy. This non-profit project, which is a volunteer initiative to promote the world-renowned Turkish coffee culture and to engage people in “coffee conversations”, was honored in the United States House of Representatives Congressional Record in May 2012. Volunteers travelled to five major states in the U.S. in 2012 and European countries in 2013 including Netherlands, Belgium and France. She is also the founder of Turkayfe.org, a social networking website developed to promote Turkey online. More info can be found at www.mobileturkishcoffeetruck.org and www.turkayfe.org

She has been donating her time and energy to the Turkish-American community in D.C. since 2009. She is the current president of American Turkish Association of Washington D.C. (ATA-DC) and the Vice President of Capital Region for Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). She also served as the Washington, DC representative of Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA) in 2012. She is married and lives in Crystal City, Virginia. White was also recognized by Dennis J. Kucinich, the Congressman from Ohio, in 2012 with an official letter to congratulate her efforts to promote Turkish Coffee.