Community Partnerships | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Engaging with Humility

Kiah Combs is our Graduate Assistant at the McCarthy Center who is achieving a master of Arts degree in Organization and Leadership at USF this semester. Working with coordinating undergraduate participation in Engage San Francisco‘s literacy tutoring program in The Fillmore Western Addition and in Financial Literacy, we loved every single moment of working with her…

The Power of Listening and Writing

Isabella (Izzy) Castrezana ’27 is our Student Communications Assistant and a Communication Studies major from Orange County, California at USF. Since April, she’s been a tutor for our community partner, 826 Valencia. 826 Valencia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students in K-12 with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping…

Power in Community, Power to Community

Olivia Brown ’25, a Critical Diversity Studies and Public Relations student, has also been an Engage Literacy Tutor for three years. She works with today’s youth in our city’s Booker T. Washington Youth Community Service Center and has built strong relationships over time. Read how her experience has helped the next generation embrace who they…

Design for Good: USF’s Food Pantry

In Fall 2024, Lizzy Fallon ’25 and Erika Baumgartner ’25, students in the Community Engaged Design class helped work on a large-scale campaign to rebrand and enhance the USF Food Pantry experience. Here is their story. We had the privilege of working first hand on designing with and for the USF Food Pantry. Our class…

Learning to Lead: From The Fillmore to City Hall

Nicole Wilmot ’25 is currently a McCarthy Fellow of San Francisco interning at the Department of the Environment. She began her CEL journey as a freshman at Rosa Parks Elementary School as an Engage Literacy intern. Read on to learn how Nicole’s experience is giving her leadership skills from each setting. My name is Nicole…

Learning Resilience from Community

Emily Choto ’25 is working toward both Environmental Science and Politics majors at USF! Being a McCarthy Fellow in San Francisco, she has been able to experience public service in the Mission District. Working inside The Food as Medicine Collaborative is a coalition of community clinics, food nonprofits and businesses, and health care systems. Emily…

Changing My Worldview Through the SFFD

Jaeda Johnson ’26 is a Psychology major with a minor in Criminal Justice Studies at USF. As a McCarthy Fellow in San Francisco interning at the SFFD’s Behavioral Health Unit, she has observed first-hand in San Francisco that while helping our communities, we must not forget to take care of ourselves. Read on to learn…

The Ripple Effect of Mentoring

Nyamal Chuol ’27 is a Public Health major with an Environmental Science minor working as a USF Rising Youth Mentor. Providing guidance for the next generation is a way of breaking down the same barriers that she had experienced just a few years earlier. With empathy, Nyamal puts herself in the mentees’ shoes and supports…

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