University of San Francisco Student Sydney Menante Awarded Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service
SAN FRANCISCO (October 6, 2026) – The University of San Francisco (USF) is proud to announce that Sydney Menante ‘28 has been awarded the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service. Created by the Obamas and Brian Chesky, Co-Founder and CEO of Airbnb, the scholarship promotes ‘exposure to new places and experiences, generating understanding, empathy, and cooperation, which equips the next generation to create meaningful change’. Menante is a Communication Studies major, a USF Honors College student, and a J. Paul Getty Fellow who is currently participating in USF in DC, a fellowship program of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, as an intern in the office of U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
The Voyager Scholarship Program is a two-year leadership development program that provides up to $50,000 in financial aid during a college student’s junior and senior years, access to a network of public service professionals, an immersive, self-designed work-travel experience, and after graduation, a $2,000 annual Airbnb travel credit for 10 years, encouraging Voyagers to continue learning from different communities throughout their careers. The Voyager Scholarship is designed to inspire, empower, and connect the next generation of leaders and equip them with the tools and resources they need to launch their careers in public service.
“I’m excited and honored to be awarded the Voyager Scholarship,” said Menante. “I’m curious about how different communities address challenges, how leaders connect with the people they serve, and what approaches are working in other parts of the world. This scholarship gives me the chance to learn from new people and places, and bring those lessons back to the communities I hope to serve.”
As a young teen, Menante was involved in youth-centered mental health advocacy through Hope Means Nevada, experiencing how powerful it is when young people are given a seat at the table. From sharing her own experiences to helping create more opportunities for other young people to share theirs, she discovered a passion for public service, realizing she wanted to help shape policies that not only support young people, but actually listen to them.
“Sydney embodies the kind of curious, values-driven public servant we hope to cultivate at the Leo T. McCarthy Center, and the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship will give her an opportunity to build on that foundation by learning with and alongside communities and bringing these experiences to her work in responsive public service,” said Karin Cotterman, senior co-director, Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at USF.
For her Summer Voyage next year, Menante is interested in opportunities where she can learn how other countries in Europe and Asia approach youth mental health, youth involvement in policy, and the systems they have in place to support young people. She hopes to build on her public service journey and use what she learns through the scholarship to become a better public leader and an effective advocate for young people.
About the University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco is a private, Jesuit Catholic university that reflects the diversity, optimism, and opportunities of the city that surrounds it. USF offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate, professional, and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, law, education, and nursing and health professions. At USF, each course is an intimate learning community in which top professors encourage students to turn learning into positive action, so the students graduate equipped to do well in the world — and inspired to change it for the better. For more information, visit usfca.edu.
