Organizers

Raindrop Turkish House

Raindrop Turkish House is a non-profit 501(c)(3), educational, charitable, social and cultural organization founded by Turkish-Americans in Houston in 2000 and now it operates in six states: Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Next to being a home to Turkish-Americans, Raindrop Turkish House addresses their social and cultural needs and helps them integrate into this multicultural society better. The mission of Raindrop is to introduce Turkish culture into American society and cultivate friendship and promote the understanding of diverse cultures through its unique services to the community, through dialog and cooperation.

Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians

Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, TCAE, is a leading independent and an umbrella organization committed to advancing the interaction among American and Turkish, Turkic and Eurasian people to promote and encourage continuing good relationship and understanding through its affiliate orgnanizations regardless of their ethnic origin, religion and other preferences.

Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, TCAE, brings people together by hosting public programs and private events featuring leaders and experts with diverse views on a wide range of global and regional topics through task forces, executive forums, luncheons, conferences, studies, and leadership dialogue.

Houston Istanbul Sister City Association

Houston-Istanbul Sister Cities Association (HISCA) is an association that strives to connect the Houston metropolitan area and the city of Istanbul through cooperation in business, culture and education. We seek to promote Istanbul heritage and traditions and Turkish culture through extensive community outreach, broad assistance to people in need and intercultural exchange.

The initiative of establishing Sister Cities came from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In an effort to lessen the chance of future world conflicts, the President proposed a people-to-people network between the United States and other nations that would involve people and organized groups at all levels of society. US cities were encouraged to partner with cities in other countries and create citizen diplomacy networks to build global cooperation, promote cultural understanding and stimulate economic development. These programs were to be based on two-way communication that would mutually benefit those partnering communities.