Cara Esposito is an alumna, Adjunct Associate Professor and Chair of the Board of Councilors for the USC Price School of Public Policy.
She may be the school’s number one fan, too.
“Price changed my life,” said Esposito. “Price, to me, is the greatest school that has ever existed.”
That’s high praise from a polymath with a passion for education, whose resume includes a Bachelor’s of English from Harvard University and a law degree from Loyola Law School. She’s also pursuing an Executive MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.
What, then, sets the USC Price School apart from those impressive institutions?
“The students at Price are very special,” she said. “There’s just a belief that we can do better and they will do better. It’s a different ethos. There is a consistent effort to be inclusive, to be collaborative, to be impactful, to be supportive. I have never seen that in any other institution I’ve attended.”
A Career Change
From 1998 to 2007, she was a deputy district attorney prosecuting juvenile cases in L.A., where she became frustrated with how government offices worked in silos. She witnessed juveniles lose financial resources, medications and other services simply because they transferred from wards of the state to wards of the court. “It was a disaster,” Esposito said.
She worked on a pilot project testing whether public defenders, district attorneys, courts, and other government agencies could collaborate to better support the kids they were trying to rehabilitate. The project piqued her interest in research, so Esposito enrolled at the USC Price School in 2007.
“It is very possible to change the world.”
Cara Esposito
The decision changed the trajectory of her career. She earned a Master of Public Administration and a Doctor of Policy, Planning and Development, and became something of an expert in collaborative governance. She focused her dissertation on the Magnolia Community Initiative, a network of profit, nonprofit and governmental organizations that work to address social problems in Los Angeles.
“I remember my last class when I finished my doctorate. I cried because it just was such an epic experience for me to learn that you really can change things,” Esposito said. “It is very possible to change the world.”
She now seeks to create change as Executive Director of the Leonetti/O’Connell Family Foundation , which administers millions of dollars in endowment assets and grants annually to fund projects aiding L.A. County communities. The organization includes Areté Rising, an initiative focused on supporting young college students with financial aid and career guidance.
Like a lot of things about her career, Esposito traces the initiative’s origins to the USC Price School. She recalls students telling her about scholarship gaps and other challenges they faced, motivating her to create a scholarship fund from Areté Rising that aids students, including those at USC.
“Everything I do here has been prompted, influenced, deeply affected by everything I’ve learned at Price, by my mentors at Price, who I still work with regularly,” Esposito said of her nonprofit work.
A USC mainstay
One of those mentors is James Ferris, USC Price School professor and Director of the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy. Ferris was Esposito’s dissertation advisor and someone she still calls for advice.
“A hallmark of her success is willingness to listen, learn and to act in whatever issue area that she chooses,” Ferris said. “She has a keen knack for understanding the value and frustrations of collaboration especially across philanthropy, business, and nonprofits.”
At the USC Price School, Esposito now trains the next generation of nonprofit leaders. She not only teaches students about nonprofit policy and governance theories but gives them the chance to make an immediate impact. Her students draft a grant proposal for a nonprofit of their choice, with the winning team receiving a $10,000 grant for that organization by semester’s end.
More recently, she became Chair of the USC Price School’s Board of Councilors, an advisory board that works with the dean on important projects such as raising money for scholarships and searching for new school leaders.
“As a distinguished Price alumna, Cara is a mainstay of the USC community,” said Dana Goldman, University Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics and former dean at the USC Price School. “Through leadership on the Price Board of Councilors, teaching, and philanthropic work, she makes a significant investment in our school and our students, not only during their studies but throughout their careers.”
Time and time again, whether discussing her career or passion for education, Esposito returns to USC Price School students. They inspire, impress and even teach the adjunct associate professor.
“Students have personal challenges and they just navigate all of it, and they navigate it with such grace and kindness,” Esposito said. “They’re just amazing human beings, and they make me very hopeful for the future.”
