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

Meet our 2025 McCarthy Fellows In Sacramento!

We are excited to introduce our Summer 2025 cohort of students participating in our McCarthy Fellows in Sacramento program. These 11 students come from a range of diverse backgrounds, passions, and experiences. They are united by their shared commitment to public service and societal change. This summer, they will be putting their knowledge into action…

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…

Reflections from the Border and Ajo, Arizona

In our last blog post, we heard from Madalyn Bowden ’25, Amy Zhang Jiang ’25, and Abigail Pena ’25 took part in the USF Architecture capstone studio, Community Design Outreach that designed installed water barrels in the Sonoran desert. Hear the reflections from their stay in Ajo, Arizona alongside Humane Borders, a non-profit organization whose…

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…

The Gift of Water Through Community Design

Madalyn Bowden ’25, Amy Zhang Jiang ’25, and Abigail Pena ’25 took part in the USF Architecture capstone studio Community Design Outreach during the Fall 2024 semester! This past January, eleven students and Professors Seth Watchel and Ross McCarthy embarked on an immersion trip to Ajo, Arizona to meet with non-profit organization, Humane Borders, volunteers…

Activism Through Financial Education

Carl Levy III ’25, Marketing major and Legal Studies minor, is one of our Financial Literacy Fellows assigned to teaching young people at the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco. When working with today’s youth, the next generation of educators can see the need to prepare students for financial success! Read Carl’s experience and…

Growing into Leadership

Cassidy Chung ’25 is a Politics major with General Business, Legal Studies, and Public Service and Community Engagement (PSCE) minors! She had the recent honor of being a student speaker at the Women In Leadership & Philanthropy’s spring syposium this month. Read how her involvement in USF impacts her past, present, and future! Stepping into…