City/County Management Fellow Profiles
Hank Hsing MPA '09
Hank Hsing took a unique path to become a City/County Management Fellow. Originally from the Chicago area, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. While offered positions from several prominent private companies after graduation, Hsing made the decision to work for the Department of Public Works with the County of Los Angeles.
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Clay Larson MPA '10
Clay Larson developed his interest in community service far from home. As a graduate student in anthropology, he conducted community studies on cultural and economic change in a tiny K'ichee' Maya mountain village, 10,000 feet above sea level in the western highlands of Guatemala. “That was a life-changing experience,” Larson said. “That village was a microcosm of many of the strengths and failings of modern society, viewed from the bottom up.” Larson is excited to use the knowledge and convictions he developed in Guatemala to improve local governments at home.
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Erika Martin MPA '08
Erika Martin has seen Long Beach change over the years. Martin grew up in the city and is currently working on facilitating change there as a development analyst for the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency. At SPPD, she studied urban planning at the city level and aimed to bring sustainable change to the built environment in areas of cities that need it most.
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Jessica O'Hare MPA '10
Jessica O’Hare has long had an interest in government and public service. As an undergraduate at Claremont McKenna College, she worked for four years at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, serving as student manager her senior year. There, she focused on demographic, fiscal and regulatory analysis. After working for a small consulting company after college, she knew she wanted to get back into government, and later landed a job with a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
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Laura Peralta MPA '10
Laura Peralta has always been drawn to governmental issues. Even before enrolling at USC, Peralta had significant opportunities to explore issues of governance at the federal level, working for Rep. Lucille-Roybal Allard (D-Calif.) in Los Angeles. Following her time in the congresswoman’s office, Peralta did some work with Anaheim City School District and Orange County, which initially sparked her interest in issues facing local government agencies.
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