The University of San Francisco to Present the 2024 Leo T. McCarthy Award for Public Service to House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi

SAN FRANCISCO (September 27, 2024) – The Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco (USF) has announced House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi as the recipient of the 2024 Award for Public Service.

“Speaker Emerita and Member of Congress for the 11th District, Nancy Pelosi was a protegee of, and friend to, Leo T. McCarthy, so it is most fitting that she receive this award named in his honor and meant to perpetuate his example of public service,” said USF President Fr. Paul J. Fitzgerald. “May future generations of USF students be inspired to take their turn advocating and legislating for the common good.”

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.

Nancy Pelosi served as the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives, having made history in 2007 when she was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker. Pelosi made history again in January 2019 when she regained the Speakership – the first person to do so in more than six decades. Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress for 37 years. Currently serving as the Representative for California’s 11th Congressional District, she is fighting For The People to lower costs, grow paychecks, and create jobs. She is the architect of generation-defining legislation, including the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan, and a defender of democracy at home and abroad. Married to Paul Pelosi, she is a proud mother of five and grandmother of ten.

“On behalf of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, I extend our heartfelt congratulations to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi on receiving the Leo T. McCarthy Award for Public Service,” said Derick Brown, senior director of the McCarthy Center. “Speaker Pelosi’s unwavering dedication to the common good and her lifelong commitment to public service truly reflect the values that this award represents. Her leadership has not only shaped policy but has inspired generations to engage in civic life and strive for justice. We are honored to recognize her extraordinary contributions to our democracy and her continued impact on our nation’s future.”

The Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good is dedicated to inspiring and preparing students at USF to pursue lives and careers of ethical public service. The McCarthy Center provides a forum for education, service and research in public policy-making and programs for the common good, supporting undergraduate programs, service learning, and government experiences for students.

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 the Speaker Emerita Pelosi with the Leo T. McCarthy Award at an event to be held Thursday, November 21, 2024, 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 visit: https://rsvp.usfca.edu/event/ltmc-award-sponsorships/summary

About the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at USF

The Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good is dedicated to inspiring and equipping students at USF to pursue lives and careers of ethical public service, and the service to others. 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. Additionally, the McCarthy Center provides community-based learning opportunities 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. This university-wide initiative supports neighbors living below San Francisco’s poverty level to achieve their full potential in education, health, and career development, and housing. 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.