Public Administration

Gen has served on Point Blue’s science advisory committee for two years and now joins Professor of Geography & Environment Ellen Hines on the board of directors, along with 20 others from business, civic and academic leadership.  Point Blue CEO Manuel Oliva said Gen was selected to the board for his “knowledge, leadership and insights” on nonprofits engaged in environmental policy advocacy. His charge is to help enhance the organization’s impact on public policy.    

Point Blue’s 160 scientists conduct applied research in shoreline and marine conservation, working lands management, environmental education and keystone environmental datasets. The organization partners with numerous government agencies, farmers and ranchers and other private land owners to research and develop conservation practices that restore and sustain a healthy planet for wildlife and humans.  Point Blue’s leadership on nature-based climate solutions is recognized by the United Nations, and in 2017 it was named an official NGO observer organization of the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. In this role, Point Blue participates in the UN’s annual Climate Change Conference of the Parties, the international community’s meetings to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change.

2021-2022 Awardees

Kathy Angeles (Urban Studies & Planning) aspires to support and work closely with communities and impacted populations that have faced challenges with affordable housing and the injustices that come with environmental impacts within these communities. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career as a planner to improve the quality of life and reduce inequality in urban areas. She believes that it is essential for the community to have representatives who not only hear what they are saying, but also understand what is going on, and she feels that her close ties to her community have helped her gain knowledge about how to address these concerns. 

Taylor Davidson (Public Administration) has been working in the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry since completing her undergraduate degree. With an emphasis on affordable housing and criminal justice public policy, she hopes to use her master's degree to lessen our nation’s economic and racial disparity gaps. In her professional experience, Davidson recognizes the role that public policy and affordable housing play in undoing these disparities. By obtaining an MPA, she strives to play a crucial role in shaping these policies and increasing access to quality affordable housing. Davidson spends her free time enjoying friends and family, collecting vinyl records, traveling and spoiling her dog, Blue.

Temur Umarov (Public Administration) currently works for the Applied Housing Research Initiative at SF State. His previous housing policy related work experience includes internships and volunteering for Tenants Together, the Sustainable Economies Law Center and Public Advocates. Professionally, he hopes to work for the government (state or local) or a nonprofit on affordable housing policy. Ultimately, he wants to work to implement policy that promotes equity in the housing system because he believes affordable housing should be a human right.

MPA program sharpened his focus on equity and his understanding of how government works

Hanging in San Francisco Supervisor Shamman Walton’s (MPA, ’10) office is a photograph of his mentor Philmore Graham, founder of the Omega Boys Club in Vallejo — a club that he says saved his life. Its mission was to create a college pipeline for Black male youth. Walton got into trouble at school and spent time in juvenile hall, but the club set him on a different path — one that began with a four-year degree from Morris Brown College in Atlanta and later a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from San Francisco State University. Now, as the county and city’s first Black man elected president of the Board of Supervisors, through public policy, he’s carving out similar pathways for the Black community.

In high school, Walton says he aspired to lead reform efforts in his community. He knew he’d have a role in government, but he couldn’t see the exact path he’d take to get there. It turns out that path was shaped like a circle. Walton grew up in public housing in Potrero Hill and Bayview. Years later, he worked in nonprofits and education serving those same communities. In 2018, he was elected supervisor of District 10, which encompasses those same neighborhoods. He credits San Francisco State with preparing him for that leap to government. There’s not a day that goes by in his current role that he doesn’t use what he learned at SF State, he says.

“The MPA program taught me how government works, how resources flow from all levels of government — federal, state to local,” he added. “The program is second to none in preparing you for a life in government.”

“It’s a testament to the leadership at SF State that professors know and understand that different cultures are important, that diversity is important and to bring all that to a leadership role is important.”

He was drawn to SF State for its historic commitment to social justice, equity and inclusion, something his instructors lived and breathed, he says. “We live in a diverse world. In public service, it’s important to understand and build relationships with the communities and the cultures around you. All of my professors understood that and taught from that perspective,” he said. “It’s a testament to the leadership at SF State that professors know and understand that different cultures are important, that diversity is important and to bring all that to a leadership role is important.”

The program sharpened his focus on equity, something he’s used to draft groundbreaking legislation for San Francisco. For instance, Walton co-authored a measure, approved by the Board of Supervisors, that would close the city’s juvenile hall by the end of 2021. Instead of jailing youth, the city will expand alternative community-based programs focused on rehabilitation.

Another major project he’s working on is developing a reparations program for the descendants of African American slaves living in San Francisco. He assembled a task force in early 2020, and it’s strategizing ways to put a monetary value to the historic injustices the Black community has endured, such as discriminatory housing policies, mass incarceration and the lack of Black business and/or home ownership.

“When we first came to this country, our language was taken away and we couldn’t get an education. That’s kept us from building generational wealth,” he said. “The reparations package will allow us to create some of that wealth and overcome some of the gaps and disparities for the Black community and create positive outcomes.” It’s unclear yet if reparations will take the shape of direct payments to families or will fund specific community programs.

When he’s not working on landmark legislation for City Hall, Walton is making a difference elsewhere — including in the classroom. He’s a frequent guest lecturer in the public administration program at SF State. He tells students considering careers in government that a good place to start is volunteering and reaching out to local officials, professors and educators. Patience and perseverance are important ingredients for this type of work as well, he adds, because change doesn’t happen overnight.

“You’re not always going to start off in leadership roles. You have to work through all the steps,” he said. “I’ve had a paper route. I’ve worked at a Boys and Girls Club, I’ve taught in a classroom, I’ve worked in public housing. I’ve had all kinds of jobs that have led to give me to the experience and opportunities I have today. You never know what opportunities are going to lead to next, so you have to be faithful in the work that you do. Understand that these things don’t happen overnight — perseverance is key.”

Sociology major eyes career as mental health social worker

Allison Phuong, a junior majoring in sociology, applied to and was accepted by eight universities, but chose SF State after considering family and financial concerns. “Looking back now [that decision] was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life,” Phuong wrote in her scholarship application. “In my three years at SF State, I have found some of the most amazing professors, advisors and classmates who have helped me to see my strengths that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to find on my own.”

After graduating, Phuong, who has worked full time to support her family throughout her undergraduate years, wants to continue her education and attain a master’s degree in social work. She especially wants to help people cope with mental health issues —her father suffers from bipolar disease, and she grew up experiencing the challenges associated with it.

“Through helping my father I saw how much I wanted to pursue a career in helping those who need help and the many who want it. I have a passion for helping with mental health, whether for young adults or parents of any age or older people suffering with mental illness or families with someone who’s mentally ill. I know that can be kind of broad but my passion for mental health will allow me to work with different demographics,” she says.

The Lewenstein Scholarship, Phuong says, will help make the grad school application process less stressful. “I can go into applying for grad school with a wider lens and wider scope in terms of which schools and programs I apply to. It’s provided a cushion for me so I don’t have to be as stressed about planning ahead. It helps me keep one foot in the present and one in the future.”

Phuong has sometimes worked two or three jobs while attending SF State. “There has yet to be a semester where I haven’t taken on a full-time course load of work, part-time work, and volunteering,” she says. “Additionally, I have a full-time commitment to my family. When my father lapses into manic episodes, I have to step up to help them financially and emotionally.”

She says her advisor Taryn Wong has had a strong stabilizing influence on her. “She was such a concrete, supportive figure for me. I could always come back to her consistently every semester. I never had that person before.” Phuong hasn’t ruled out the possibility of becoming a college counselor herself, once she is finished with grad school. But her ultimate goal is to find balance. “I want to support my family but also support my own independent dreams, and to be happy while giving back to the community.”

Master of Public Administration student seeks to contribute through nonprofit work

Giving back to the community is also a goal for Michael Brodheim. After being incarcerated for 35 years and then released in 2015, Brodheim found a welcoming place at SF State through Project Rebound. Prior to being incarcerated, he had received an undergrad degree from MIT; he then continued his education while in prison, obtaining a master’s degree from Antioch University and working as a paralegal helping other prisoners.

Upon his release, however, he discovered that finding a job was much harder than he’d anticipated. “Even in workplaces that hired formerly incarcerated people, I would lose out to someone who had just gotten a degree.” He says he realized he needed to rectify that gap and rebrand himself as not just someone who recently came out of prison but someone with a master’s degree in public administration.

His interest in public administration came from the advocacy and paralegal work he did while in prison for others who were incarcerated. “While incarcerated I learned firsthand that the criminal justice system — a system I formerly believed operated fairly — operates instead in a manner which disproportionately impacts people of color and poor people, helping to ensure that they remain effectively stymied from ever reentering mainstream society,” he wrote in his application for the scholarship. Brodheim’s name appears on two published federal cases: One upheld the rights of a prisoner to engage in protected activities under the First Amendment without being subjected to retaliation by prison officials.

Brodheim hopes to finish his master’s degree in the fall of 2021; he works full time and takes two courses each semester. Despite the challenges, he is grateful and appreciative for the second chance he’s been given in returning to society and the opportunities he’s found at SF State. “I feel extraordinarily lucky to have this second chance to breathe fresh air. The air outside has a different quality to it than the air on the inside.” He describes his experience at SF State similarly. “I am grateful for the welcoming culture at SF State, where I am treated as a human being. Such a breath of fresh air!”

While he works toward his master’s degree, he’s working full time at the Prison Law Office in Berkeley as a litigation assistant. He monitors prison conditions to make sure that prisoners receive appropriate medical and mental health care, among other concerns. “We want to ensure that the prison system does a better job than it would if we were not looking over their shoulders,” he says.

Having witnessed firsthand the effects of structural discrimination, Brodheim hopes he can work to change the wrongs he’s seen. He says, “I made an unforgiveable mistake, and I want to give back to the community I grievously harmed. I don’t know that I can balance the scale but I’ll make an effort to do the right thing as much as I can every day and hopefully make some contribution.” He believes a master’s degree in public administration will help him do that. “It will give me an avenue through which I can hopefully give back to the community in some capacity while working in a nonprofit.”