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

Defense Beyond the Courtroom

In this week’s blog Allyssa Olear, McCarthy Fellow in San Francisco, describes her internship with the Public Defender’s Office working on projects, Open the Courts Public Action and the Adachi Project. Similar the earlier blog by McCarthy Fellow cohort member, Kacie Williams, Allyssa strengthened her passion to continue public service and commit to advocating for…

In the Service of Equality

Former member of the California State Assembly, and McCarthy Center Emeritus Board of Advisor, Betsy Butler, recently gave an interview in The Easy Reader as executive director of the California Women’s Law Center. She elaborates on the issues she’s working on, from advocating for assault and rape survivors, to gendered pay disparity. This interview have…

Our Best of Student Success

When you think about the best of USF and the best of student leadership and service, it’s impossible NOT to think about the McCarthy Center. Join us at BOSS – the Best of Student Success – on Friday, October 18 from noon to 2:30 at the McLaren Center. BOSS is part of Celebrate USF, a…

Thrills at 48 Hills

Zachary James ’20, graduate student in the Urban and Public Affairs program, spent his summer working in the field of investigative journalism as a writer for the local online newspaper, 48 Hills. He reflects in this week’s blog on the issue areas he was exposed to and how his internship gave him the ideas for…

Learning to Care About Politics

Something that I often hear from family members, friends, and teachers is, “The government doesn’t work.” Chances are, if you’re familiar with American politics, you have heard or even said something similar yourself. This was the mindset that I even had as I prepared for my internship with the McCarthy Fellows program. Pessimistic? Sure, but…

On My First Year Of Grad School

Jessica Lindquist, M.A., Public Affairs ’18 Last July I left my cushy job as an executive assistant at a financial technology company in Mid-Market to try something scary and exciting: graduate school. I had been accepted into the Master of Public Affairs program at the University of San Francisco. At my core, I knew it…

Contributing from D.C. and Common Sense Media

Ayah Mouhktar (’18) USF in D.C. Fellow Ayah Mouhktar is one of our not-so-secret weapons in D.C. As a Student Communications Assistant for the McCarthy Center, she took on the mission of serving the Winter semester as a participant in the USF in D.C. Fellows program. We are thrilled to report that she is…

Life is Not Linear – Learning to Fight for Equity, Diversity, and Democracy in San Francisco

I decided late last summer to apply to the Master of Arts in Urban Affairs program at the University of San Francisco (USF) in a move to change my career path. As an undergraduate at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), I studied both chemistry and sociology. While I was passionate about both fields, upon graduating I ended up working with the Environmental, Health, and Safety department at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in the chemical safety department. While the work I was doing was important, I was not doing the type and scope of work that I truly wanted to do – that is work that addresses issues surrounding social justice. – David Woo