Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton
Sbeydeh (Speve) Viveros-Walton (she/her/ella)
Director of Higher Education, Public Advocates | Council Member, City of San Leandro District 1
‘13 Master of Public Administration (MPA), San Francisco State University
“The MPA program gave me the technical tools I needed to understand how government works—and the human support to keep going when life got hard. The faculty didn’t just teach; they met us where we were as working professionals.”
Professional Development:
Sbeydeh (Speve) Viveros-Walton is the Director of Higher Education at Public Advocates, a public interest law firm based in San Francisco, and a District 1 Council Member for the City of San Leandro. A 2013 graduate of San Francisco State University’s Master of Public Administration program, Sbeydeh entered the program while working full-time in the Berkeley Mayor’s Office, where she advanced from intern to Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing Education, Health, and Community Services.
The MPA program, she notes, equipped her with vital technical skills—interpreting budgets, writing resolutions, and evaluating policy—that immediately enhanced her work in local government. Beyond academic rigor, she appreciated that SF State’s faculty brought both professional and lived experience into the classroom, blending theory with practice in ways that directly applied to her job.
Importance of Networking:
The relationships formed through the program have had lasting impact. Many of Sbeydeh’s classmates remain in public service or nonprofit leadership, and their shared experience completing team projects created strong professional bonds. She continues to stay connected with her peers—now colleagues—across sectors such as affordable housing, philanthropy, and public health.
Sbeydeh emphasizes that this network is not just social—it’s a community of practitioners dedicated to public service. The shared experience of balancing demanding jobs with graduate coursework strengthened their sense of solidarity and collective commitment to making government work better for people.
Impact on Career and Future Plans:
Sbeydeh credits her MPA education with shaping her approach as both a policymaker and implementer. “Policy means nothing unless it’s funded and implemented,” she says. Her graduate training helps her bridge the gap between policy design and execution, a perspective that grounds her current work on the San Leandro City Council.
The program also left a personal mark: when life’s pressures mounted—balancing a demanding job, school, and leadership responsibilities—faculty noticed and extended empathy and flexibility without compromising rigor. That experience, she says, shaped her own leadership philosophy of combining accountability with compassion.
Advice for Prospective Students:
Sbeydeh encourages prospective students to choose an accredited program that understands the needs of working professionals. “SF State really led the way,” she explains, “in designing graduate programs for people who are already in the workforce and still committed to advancing public service.”
She also underscores the importance of faculty who blend theory with practice: “Our professors had one foot in academia and one in the field. They helped us see how policy comes to life through people.”
Ultimately, Sbeydeh views SF State’s MPA program as foundational to a lifelong commitment to learning and service. “Public institutions of higher education like SF State are essential. They shape the next generation of public servants who believe in equity, accountability, and community.”
