Students and Alumni | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Seeing the Leo T. McCarthy Award’s Impact

Our 2024 McCarthy Award for Public Service celebration honoring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in November was an evening filled with the center’s friends, donors, stakeholders, and students! Fifteen McCarthy Center students who served as ambassadors, helped our guests to see the success that they support. Hear from some of our students as they reflect on…

Equity from the Classroom to the City

Fernanda (Ferni) Santillan-Sandoval ’25 will participate as a McCarthy Fellow in San Francisco this fall. Last summer she was one of the 2024 cohort of Equity Interns, a collaboration between the University of Delaware’s Biden Institute and YMCA of San Francisco to increase educational equity and learning opportunities for all students across the city. Ferni…

Meet our 2025 USF in DC Fellows!

We are pleased to introduce the spring cohort of eight students who will join us this semester for our USF in Washington, D.C. Fellows program. They come from multiple backgrounds, have diverse interests, and arrive with a common thread and dedication to public service. Currently, they’re applying their skills and determination to internships in the…

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…

The Power of Mentorship

Sophia Troiani ’25 is one of our USF Rising Youth Mentors! Moving from Texas to California, she found her drive to give back and empower our communities. Pursuing her Psychology degree while minoring in Public Service and Community Engagement, Sophia has left a mark on our community by giving our mentees an insight into their…

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