Franek Machowski

Franek is an NGO worker, activist, and long-time Neukölln resident. He has called the district home for most of the past 12 years and has spent his professional life working with people and communities across Berlin — from refugees arriving after 2015 and 2022 to older residents in Neukölln, where he currently helps develop an EU programme for people aged 60+.

Since 2018, Franek has also been active in homelessness support at Berliner Stadtmission, both as a volunteer and as a shift coordinator. He has worked plenty of precarious jobs over the years, but none for as long as bartending — and he is still part of the orbit of Klunkerkranich, where he is a member of the Diversity AG.

Franek is a member of the Executive Board of the Polnischer Sozialrat (Polish Social Council) e.V. in Berlin. In 2024, he co-authored its Action Plan for EU Migrants, together with other migrant organisations. The plan has since informed work at the European Commission and inspired many of the ideas at the heart of this campaign: that migrants should not just be spoken about, but should have a voice in shaping the places where they live.

He is also one of the leading figures of Razem Berlin, the German branch of the Polish left-wing party. He has campaigned for the rights of the Polish and wider migrant communities, supported refugees stranded at the Polish-Belarusian border, and consistently stood up for Ukraine’s right to self-determination.

Born in Kielce, Poland, in 1991, Franek left the country straight after high school. He studied Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London and Literature and Art History at the University of Potsdam, spending a year on Erasmus at Réunion Island. His first professional experience came working at Polish embassies in Latin America.