Shaylyn MacKinnon

Shaylyn (she/her/hers) was raised in Colchester, CT, but considers home as Portland, ME. She attended Drew University where she triple majored in International Relations, English Literature, and Spanish Language & Culture, initially intending a career in English language education. Shaylyn's goals shifted to refugee resettlement from the policy research and social service perspectives after witnessing a mass arrival of asylum seekers in Portland just before departing for her Peace Corps service in Rwanda. Upon her return, she began an AmeriCorps service assisting in an ELL classroom and an internship with a local nonprofit researching workforce-focused adult English language education. Shaylyn is currently a dual degree student pursuing her Master of Public Policy and Master of Social Work hoping to combine her passion for direct service with her interest in macro-level policy research in order to help ease the legal, cultural, and social integration process of refugee resettlement within Maine.