She/Her

Chelsea FrancoMartin is a proud daughter of a Mexican immigrant and Chicana. Chelsea’s family comes from Guadalajara, Jalisco. She was born and raised in New Jersey and currently resides in Trenton, New Jersey. Chelsea has a passion for social justice, community advocacy and organizing, and community development. She began her college education at Mercer County Community College studying Criminal Justice. Following that Chelsea transferred to Temple University where she studied Criminal Justice and Political Science. It was there that Chelsea found her passion for history, law, and policy and how understanding and studying those topics and their intersectionality could affect great social change. After graduating from Temple University, Chelsea went on to earn her Master of Public Administration with a focus in Community Development from Rutgers University-Camden. There, Chelsea primarily focused her work on the history of immigration and the intersection of race and class in addition to Black and Latino social movement impact on social, political, and policy change. 

Professionally, Chelsea has a wealth of experience working in non-profit and community-based organizations as an employee and intern. Chelsea currently works for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey as the Policy & Organizing Specialist. She previously worked for the Public Health Management Corporation in Philadelphia as a Case Manager. In addition to that, Chelsea has previous experience working at the Trenton Free Public Library, and the Defender Association of Philadelphia with both the legal and social service side of the organization. While attending Rutgers University-Camden, Chelsea was also a Graduate Fellow with the Eagleton Institute of Politics which allowed her to work for the City of Trenton Office of the Mayor where she worked on developing solutions for police reform within the city.   

Chelsea also has a wealth of experience working with different organizations as a volunteer. Currently, Chelsea is a Collective Member with Tha Block Trenton. She also previously worked with another local Trenton non-profit, Arm in Arm on their Next-Generation Council. Prior to that Chelsea volunteered with the Petey Greene Program providing tutoring to incarcerated students to expand access to education within prisons and jails. 

Resume

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Research Interests

Chelsea’s current research interest include the historical, cultural, political, and economic impact of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans across the United States, the impact of social movements on policy change, and the inclusion of Chicana and Chicano studies in higher-education institutions and programs across the United States.

Research Topics

Mexican Immigrants | Immigration | History | Economy