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Alumni

Francisco (Pancho) Mackin-Plankey


Class of: 2020
Hometown: College Station, TX
School: College of Arts and Science
Major(s): History; Religious Studies

 

Francisco Mackin-Plankey, better known by his friends as Pancho, was born in Madison, Wisconsin. In his formative years, Pancho lived in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico and College Station, Texas. Growing up in Texas and Mexico, Pancho was uniquely situated to see the human face of immigration. Furthermore, being the child of two sociologists whose research focus is Latin America, Pancho’s awareness of societal problems relating, but not limited, to immigration was given an added depth through conversations over the dinner table. Interested in immigration issues, in high school Pancho became involved with the Brazos Interfaith Immigration Network (BIIN), a local nonprofit that seeks to empower the local immigrant community of Bryan and College Station, Texas. Pancho participated in multiple rounds of BIIN’s citizenship classes, as well as performing other varied functions for the organization.

 

In his first three years at Vanderbilt, Pancho consistently volunteered with various immigration focused organizations in Nashville. His freshman year, Pancho briefly became involved with Workers Dignity. At Workers Dignity, Pancho served as an advocate for local immigrant workers who had had their pay stolen from them, and had limited resources to pursue repayment of their hard-earned wage. Simultaneously, Pancho began volunteering with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE) for whom he was a youth education intern from the Spring semester of his freshman year, through the fall semester of his junior year. In this capacity, Pancho helped tutored refugee teenagers at an afterschool program at Glencliff High School. Additionally, Pancho stayed in Nashville the summer after his freshman year, serving as a summer intern with NICE, working in their youth education program for children ages 5-14. In the second half of his junior year, Pancho became a consistent volunteer for a newly formed organization, The Nashville Welcoming Committee, where he, along with other volunteers, greet and assist immigrants traveling to be with family, who are awaiting an immigration hearing.  

 

 Pancho spent the summer after his sophomore year working with Maní+, a social enterprise based in Guatemala that seeks to improve life outcomes for the rural poor of Guatemala by ensuring better nutritional outcomes during childhood. Hoping to see another side to how change is enacted, Pancho interned with the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR), helping research various policy proposals recommended by the TACIR Commission. Heading into his senior year, Pancho is excited to continue his interests in History and Religious Studies. After graduation, Pancho hopes to study public policy and pursue a job in the public sector or academia.