Growing Within the McCarthy Center

Layla Ybarra-Harvey recently join the McCarthy Team! We are so excited too have her here and honored to her as our new Graduate Assistant. Layla was kind enough to share with us a little about her life and what brought her here! Welcome aboard Layla!

Hi, Everyone! My name is Layla Ybarra-Harvey, and I am the new Graduate Assistant for both the Engage San Francisco Literacy Program and the Silk Financial Literacy Program. These programs are both run through the Leo T. McCarthy Center, a space that I am so excited to grow within. I am originally from the East Bay. I earned my Bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in 2021, where I majored in Psychology and minored in Literature/Writing. After spending a good chunk of time in San Diego, I am so happy to be back home! I began my Master’s here at USF in 2023, and I will be a graduate in the Counseling Psychology program with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy next Spring.

When I first started my program here, I was in desperate need of a job, and I wanted to do something that aligned with the work I want to do in my career. I wanted to have a positive impact on communities. When I lived in San Diego, I worked doing ABA therapy, and I worked as a tutor on the side. So when I was searching for jobs, I was looking for something similar, and I came across the ESF Literacy Program. Now I can say that I have been a tutor for the last two years, and I have loved every minute of it. The program allows our tutors to work with elementary school students in The Fillmore District and Western Addition. The site that I work at has treated me like family and has helped me see a whole new way that I can make a difference in the community, aside from becoming a counselor (Seriously, I almost thought about switching programs to become a teacher.) I have been able to experience for myself that this tutoring program has similar values to how I approach counseling in that they both prioritize going into communities to make change and help youth and adults discover their capabilities. This program has meant so much to me, and I was lucky to be considered for this new role as a graduate assistant.

As a graduate assistant, I will still be working at school sites and tutoring youth. I will also be working with the program manager Dresden to oversee and coordinate the programs and the relationships we are building between the sites, our ESF Literacy tutors, and our Financial Literacy student fellows. I will gradually get more and more familiar with the McCarthy Center, as a goal of mine while in this position is to help develop and propel the center, as well as the amazing programs and partnerships the campus has to offer. I want to advertise the cultural and impactful mission of our programs. Throughout the year, I hope to introduce as many students as possible to these programs and encourage students to join our teams!

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Best,

Layla Ybarra-Harvey

Learn more about our awesome programs here: https://www.usfca.edu/mccarthy/engage-san-francisco.