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
SAN FRANCISCO (October 22, 2026) – 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 through community-engaged learning, civic engagement, and transformative fieldwork experience. Since its founding, the Center has connected students with communities and public institutions, advancing USF’s mission to educate leaders committed to the common good.
The McCarthy Center’s 2026 Award for Public Service will be awarded to former U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo on Thursday, November 19, 2026 in San Francisco at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in the Merchant’s Exchange Building. As a recognized leader in healthcare access, technology and innovation policy, consumer protection, and public safety, Congresswoman Eshoo’s more than three decades of service in the U.S. House of Representatives embodies the values at the heart of the Leo T. McCarthy Award for Public Service.
“The McCarthy Award Dinner is an evening with thought-provoking speakers that energizes those in attendance to be changemakers,” said Niall McCarthy, son of Leo T. McCarthy. “It is always a memorable experience.”
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.
“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, senior co-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 25th Anniversary of the McCarthy Center demonstrates the legacy of Leo T. McCarthy and the impactful mentorship he has provided to countless civic leaders in California. We are honored to celebrate Anna Eshoo for her leadership and advocating for families, women, children, and veterans. The McCarthy Center, as it looks ahead to the next 25 years, continues the legacy of its founder in mentoring the next generation of leaders that are committed to the common good,” stated Noriko Lim-Tepper, senior co-director of the McCarthy Center.
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.
Over its 25 year history, the McCarthy Center has connected generations of USF students with opportunities to serve communities and gain firsthand experience in public service. Today, the Center’s network includes more than 2100 alumni, including more than 500 McCarthy Fellows who have served across local, state, and federal government and community organizations. In the past 30 years, over 1,000 USF Literacy Tutors have supported 10,000 students in San Francisco classrooms and after school programs. Through partnerships with more than 400 organizations and agencies, students have contributed thousands of hours annually toward work addressing community-identified priorities in San Francisco, Sacramento, Washington, DC, and beyond.
Signature programs of the McCarthy Center include: McCarthy Fellows in Sacramento, McCarthy Fellows in San Francisco, USF in Washington, D.C., USFVotes, and Engage San Francisco. Together, these programs connect students with public agencies and community organizations to contribute to community-identified priorities while developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions for sustained careers and lives in public service. The impact of these programs has resulted in tens of thousands of hours contributed to local communities, and more than 200 developed campus-community partnerships that support access to education, resources for youth development, health equity and other pressing issues facing San Francisco.
USF will officially present Representative Eshoo with the Leo T. McCarthy Award at the Julia Morgan Ballroom on 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 RSVP or email: mccarthycenter@usfca.edu
About the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at USF
In order to shape a more humane, equitable, and just world, the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good educates leaders committed to lives of ethical public service by implementing academically rigorous programs, cultivating authentic community partnerships, and fostering transformational experiences.
The center provides a non-partisan forum for education, service and research in public programs and policy-making. It supports undergraduate programs, including a minor in public service and multiple fellowships. Additionally, the McCarthy Center supports community-engaged learning courses and facilitates government experiences for students. Engage San Francisco is a transformative university-community partnership that achieves community-identified outcomes supporting children, youth and families in The Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhood through student learning, research and teaching aligned with USF’s mission and vision. For more information, visit https://www.usfca.edu/mccarthy
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.
