The University of San Francisco’s Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good Celebrates 25 Years of Service to the Community
The Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco (USF) is celebrating 25 years of preparing students for lives of ethical public service in government, business, the environment, healthcare, and education, by providing service learning and fieldwork experience to promote the common good.
The milestone year will culminate in the McCarthy Center’s 2026 Award for Public Service being awarded to former U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo on November 19 in San Francisco. As a recognized leader in healthcare access, technology and innovation policy, consumer protection, and public safety, Representative Eshoo’s more than three decades of service in the U.S. House of Representatives embody the values at the heart of the Leo T. McCarthy Award for Public Service.
“As we celebrate the McCarthy Center’s 25th anniversary, it is a gift to recognize a public servant like Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, whose ethical public leadership and commitment to the common good is a direct through line from the legacy of Leo T. McCarthy,” said Karin Cotterman, interim senior director of the McCarthy Center. “Our work at the McCarthy Center is grounded in what is necessary for a successful, thriving, diverse democracy, particularly at this time in history. This is both our legacy and our vision moving forward.”
The Leo T. McCarthy Award for Public Service is awarded biannually to those whose work makes a difference in the lives of people most affected by injustice. The award recognizes persons of significant accomplishment who continue to lead for progressive change serving the common good. Like the award’s namesake, winners inspire others to lead, devote their energy to equity and justice, and maintain the highest ethical standards in their personal and professional lives. Public service is defined broadly to include persons in government, philanthropy, education, and the nonprofit world.
“The vision of the McCarthy Center was to create leaders who would speak out against injustice in all forms though civic engagement,” said Niall McCarthy, son of Leo T. McCarthy. “The Center has achieved that vision for 25 years. It is imperative that future leaders continue to be taught the value of ethical public service. The McCarthy Center is a transformative experience which is unique to USF, and its impact is measured not by dollars, but by the lives that are enhanced.”
Signature programs of the McCarthy Center include: McCarthy Fellows in Sacramento, USF in Washington, D.C., USFVotes, and Engage San Francisco. The impact of these programs has resulted in tens of thousands of service hours contributed to local communities, and more than 200 developed campus-community partnerships supporting education, youth development, and health equity.
Leo T. McCarthy, Speaker of the Assembly from 1974 to 1980 and Lieutenant Governor of California from 1983 to 1995, was a man of great political wisdom and personal integrity. He began his career in the 1960s as a San Francisco supervisor and was instrumental in establishing the city’s Human Rights Commission and keeping freeways out of Golden Gate Park. Leo was an advocate who listened, amplified, and responded to the voices of underserved communities and those pushed to the margins.
USF will officially present Representative Eshoo with the Leo T. McCarthy Award at an event to be held Thursday, November 19, 2026, bringing together civic leaders, dignitaries, philanthropists and McCarthy Center supporters to celebrate the center’s mission to train a new generation of leaders dedicated to ethical public service. To attend or sponsor the event, please email: mccarthycenter@usfca.edu
