ABOUT PACF

OUR VISION

Instilling empathy among all people in the Americas.

This is achievable by uniting the Americas one student at a time through university scholarships in which education extends to language, community and immersive cultural engagement.

Now multiply this influence by each student and each country involved. This is our vision.

OUR MISSION

PACF’s mission is to select university students and grant full scholarships in order to provide students with the opportunity to live, study, and work in the host country.

Through this experience they will strengthen their language abilities, develop a deeper understanding of the country’s culture and an empathy for the people.

WHAT IS EMPATHY?

Empathy (n): the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.

Research indicates that empathy is best achieved by speaking the native tongue and living, working, or studying in another culture for a least one-year.  

“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus for creating change.” – Max Carver

OUR FOUNDER

Todd Watkins served as a Helicopter Pilot and Tax Officer for Bravo Company, 7th Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. During his time in the military, Todd traveled extensively around the world and had the opportunity to volunteer throughout the Americas. While traveling in Brazil, Todd realized how similar the country of Brazil was to the United States. He saw that Brazil’s natural resources rivaled

those of the United States. Yet, the country lagged behind much of the world relative to medical advancements, business, and farming.

Upon further research, Todd discovered that the United States produced more Ph.D. graduates than Brazil produced High School graduates. As a result of this educational disparity, Brazilians were prevented from taking advantage of various programs designed to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Todd recognized that this imbalance in educational opportunity makes it very difficult for the two countries to communicate.

However, an increase in university graduation rates in Brazil would not be enough to strengthen the bond between these two countries.

Todd realized it was important to develop empathy for each other’s culture. Hence, the birth of The Pan-American College Fund – an organization that seeks to develop empathy via education for the sole purpose of strengthening the relationship of all the people of the Americas.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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LEGAL

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