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LEO T. MCCARTHY CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND THE COMMON GOOD
2023-24 Annual Impact Report
As we close the 2023–24 academic and fiscal year, I am proud to reflect on our continued progress and growth. This year has been marked by new initiatives, including the launch of the USF Rising Youth Mentorship program, which aims to foster mutually beneficial relationships between USF students and youth from historically underserved communities.
With Gratitude, from our Senior Director
Our students have achieved remarkable success, both in and out of the classroom, and we have seen strong support from our McCarthy Center Board in shaping the future of our Center. Our partnerships continue to expand, allowing us to collaborate with organizations such as the University of Delaware Biden Institute, YMCA of San Francisco, KQED, the San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco City and County, and beyond, including Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Derick Brown
Senior Director, Leo T. McCarthy Center
Community Engagement Remains at the Heart of our Mission
Through community-engaged learning coursework across campus, in The Fillmore/Western Addition and through the Engage San Francisco initiative, we are building lasting connections that are driving real impact in the lives of our students and community members.
McCarthy Fellows in San Francisco, Sacramento, and USF in DC
USF in DC at Georgetown
Beginning with the 2023–24 academic year, the McCarthy Center embarked on a new partnership with Georgetown University for the USF in DC program where our students would have an opportunity to live in new Georgetown housing alongside students from our Jesuit partner university in our nation’s capital, learning about policymaking and politics at a national level.
USFVotes
USF Shines in the Primaries
USF received the 2023–24 All in Democracy Challenge Award for the Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting. This program recognizes institutions that work to increase nonpartisan student voter registration, education, and turnout and ensure equitable access to the polls for their community. In March, the University hosted two polling locations on campus for the Super Tuesday Primaries.
Team Leads Conversation in KQED Live
The McCarthy Center and KQED Live convened some of the Bay Area’s youngest elected officials — including Assemblymember Alex Lee, Hercules Mayor Alexander Walker-Griffin, and Sunnyvale Councilmember Alysa Cisneros — to share their vision for our region’s future in conversation with politics correspondent Guy Marzaroti and USF Votes Team Lead Caitlin Kennedy.
Community Empowerment Activists
The rEVOLUTION is love
In its sixth year, Community Empowerment Activists continued to attract students and community advocacy organizations in mutually beneficial partnerships to teach undergraduate students, resistance, and activism in the year-long program combining coursework with paid internships with frontline organizations.
In this year’s cohort, CEAs learned to embrace transformative justice by examining the context of various forms of oppression, engaging within the work of the community, and learning the skills of grassroots organizing.
Equity Interns
Growth and Deeper Connection in 2024
Year four of Equity Interns revamped its curriculum and programming to better equip undergraduate interns to support and empower the San Francisco YMCA's Power Scholar Academy students in developing their social-emotional skills and habits to increase pathways necessary for agency and joy in their learning journeys.
Both Newark, Delaware, and San Francisco foster community and innovation through strong educational institutions, local community engagement, and opportunities for collaboration — connecting both cities on a broader scale. Six Interns from the University of Delaware’s Biden Institute joined us from across the United States in the collaborative efforts of tackling educational inequities in the summer school sites of The Fillmore/Western Addition District, the Mission, and Bayview neighborhoods.
Engage San Francisco
ESF celebrated its 10th anniversary in spring 2024. We gathered with over 100 friends and supporters to reflect on highlights from the past two decades.
Literacy Partnerships
In fall 2023 we had 60 tutors, including 25 new hires. Literacy Program Manager Dresden Frazier-Smith partnered with the USF Black Achievement Success and Engagement (BASE) to promote the position to Black students on campus. This supported our goal of hiring Black-identified tutors, as requested by our partners. We had an incredibly diverse team, with 82% tutors of color and 37% Black or African American. Our tutors come from diverse majors including psychology and we also have tutors studying nursing, politics, biology, architecture, and computer science.
Community Activist Researchers
Dr. Colette Cann and her colleagues at RISE for Racial Justice taught a third cohort of Black-Community Activist Researchers (B-CAR) in classes on Race Theory and Black Community Activist Research. Returning Black Community Activist Researchers presented at the 2023 CIES Western Regional Conference and have joined the USF community as students following their completion of three years in the program.
Rising Youth Mentorship
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Spring 2024 marked a successful pilot for USF Rising Youth Mentorship, a collaboration between LTMC and the Athletics Department, aimed at fostering college-going culture and career exploration for 6th-8th graders. Partnering with Braid Mission, Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, Prince Hall Computer Learning Center, and Magic Programs, the initiative allowed youth to explore USF’s campus and opportunities.
Key events included a STEM-focused collaboration with USF engineering students and a self-expression workshop led by Brother Connection and Alpha Phi Alpha members. These initiatives helped mentees build meaningful relationships with USF students, promoting representation and mentorship for the next generation.
2023-24 Financials
Revenues
60% Gifts, Grants, and Contributions
15% Foundations
25% Endowment
Expenses
85% McCarthy Center Programs
12% Administration
3% Other Restricted Activity