Last June, Los Angeles mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa tapped Carolyn Webb de Macias as a senior adviser in his new administration. The USC vice president for external relations, currently on a half-time sabbatical from the university, talked with staff writer Allison Engel about her bulging calendar, the surprises of her new position and what the city can learn from USC’s outreach efforts.

AE: How can your dual positions benefit both the city and USC?

CW: Because I’ve been in higher education for eight years, I know a lot about the higher education community as a resource. I’m not sure that everyone at City Hall thinks about the brain trust that these institutions represent. On the USC side, the university gets the acknowledgement that it is being a good citizen. It also has made it much easier for the university to have a natural interaction with the mayor’s office. The ultimate is, the mayor did his “100 day” speech at USC. The university was having its 125th anniversary event. People at USC felt they got to hear what’s happening in the city and see a leader that everyone’s excited about, and he got the opportunity to recognize an important institution to the City of Los Angeles.

AE: How can USC be more involved in solving the city’s problems?

CW: USC is doing a tremendous job already. Everyone in the city points to the work USC is doing in the communities around its campuses, beginning with the neighborhood schools in which we have hundreds of students and thousands of student hours invested in mentoring and tutoring. Our Kid Watch program is a citywide model. But we need to encourage access to our own institution to students in Los Angeles. Our researchers and teachers need to continue to develop fieldwork and service learning that bring our research into the broader community. We need to give legs to that research so it’s not sitting on the shelves. One of the most unique things we do is fund a lot of our work through the USC Good Neighbors Campaign. It allows our faculty and staff, who make up thousands of people, to be invested in the community. They’re giving out of their own paychecks.

AE: Why haven’t other institutions stepped up in the same way?

CW: It takes a commitment from the top. If the mission statement of this university states that it must respect and be a part of the community, then many things are possible. Managers and professors and staff and students at all levels can give free rein to their imaginations and creativity. People’s hearts are good, and given permission to live that goodness, they will do generous things.

AE: What’s a typical day for you?

CW: Yesterday, I had a meeting at 8 a.m. on how we could fund $35 million for a healthy kids initiative. The next meeting was a task force on a summit to get 2,000 adults to qualify as mentors. Then there was a follow-up meeting about the public service announcement for that summit. Then a meeting with my education team. Then there was another meeting before I went to hear the mayor do a presentation to grant-makers. Then I went to a meeting of the 21st Century Club, a black philanthropic foundation expanding into California. And then I conversed with a young lady who is doing work for me in my presidency of the California African American Museum. I got home about 9:30 p.m.

AE: What has been the biggest surprise of your new role?

CW: The most fun surprise is how both the mayor and the USC president insist on chiding each other, publicly, about how long I will work in this dual role. The biggest surprise has been that although I knew the city and this job would be big, I woefully underestimated the magnitude of the work that is done in the mayor’s office. I almost cannot explain how big the job of the mayor and his staff is. But the way in which people in this mayor’s office work to rise to the challenge is awe-inspiring. And I think there are two people to account for that. One is the mayor, and his vision and personal drive and dedication, and the other is the skill of Robin Kramer, his chief of staff. She’s brilliant. They have pulled together a team of people who are the best and brightest in their fields. And each is trying to carry his or her portion of the load. It’s as if everyone knows that this is a moment of hope, and nobody wants to squander their opportunity to do it right.