“Lights On” at DCYF

At the McCarthy Center, students engage with communities while developing the skills and perspectives needed for meaningful public service. Through McCarthy Fellows in San Francisco, Keslie Parker ’26 worked with 80+ organizations through the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families.  Keslie’s journey highlights how the McCarthy Center empowers students to make  contributions to building a more just and humane world.

As a freshman stepping onto USF’s campus for the first time, I knew that I was in a place that cared deeply about community and being involved in bettering the world. Growing up, my parents raised me to always give back to those around me, and leave the world a better place. In fact, my dad still tells me that phrase to this day. I always knew that I wanted to do something that had an impact on the world around me, and when I found the McCarthy Center I knew that I found a place that would uplift me and support me in those goals. As a public service and community engagement student, I knew that I wanted to participate in one of the McCarthy Center’s public service and policy programs. I had a really strong desire to participate in USF in  D.C. yet there was always something that was pulling me back. As I applied for the McCarthy Fellows in San Francisco, I came to realize what that hesitation was: I wanted to be able to learn in and from my own community, and the San Francisco program was the perfect way to do that. 

In the spring of 2025, I applied for the San Francisco McCarthy Fellows program for the following semester. Once accepted into the fall 2025 cohort, I was placed with the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF) on their Communications & Community Engagement Team. Over the past few months, my life has been incredibly enriched and changed through my internship experience. I have learned so much about what it means to be involved in a community, and how to spread positivity. One of the main projects I had the opportunity to work on was helping to organize San Francisco’s participation in the Afterschool Alliance’s Lights On Afterschool Celebration. Throughout the month of October, I engaged with more than 80 of DCYF’s grantee and community partners in helping them share their support for afterschool programs. I had the opportunity to write an article for DCYF about our Lights On participation, and it brought me so much joy to see it all come together. The youth in San Francisco are incredibly special, and it has truly been an honor to uplift them in the small ways that I have.  

My time at DCYF has not only taught me professional skills that I will carry into my career, but it has taught me the importance of why it is so important to be a public servant. As my internship draws to a close, I have been reflecting on a quote that the McCarthy center draws on from their namesake Leo McCarthy: “There isn’t a student on this campus in any major who could not be an effective force in public decision-making if they bring to the fight a personal commitment to build a more just and humane world.” Now, more than ever, I have that personal commitment inside me as I have seen firsthand how powerful public service can be. I am forever grateful for this opportunity, and to anyone considering applying for any McCarthy program– do it, it will change your life for the better.

Learn more and apply to be a McCarthy Fellow in San Francisco!