Finding Joy in Connection: Marisa McFarlane’s Path to Building Community at UCSF

Marisa McFarlane, MA, has spent her career at UCSF bringing people together – students and staff, patients and providers, longtime employees and newcomers. But her own introduction to the UCSF community came long before she joined the university as a staff member. It began with her mother.

McFarlane spent several summers volunteering at UCSF before stepping in temporarily to cover her mother’s role in the Division of Gastroenterology. When her mother retired in 2017, McFarlane stayed – proud to carry forward the family’s UCSF legacy in her own way.

Today, as Strategic Initiatives Specialist in the Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME), McFarlane leads diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), well-being, curriculum, and quality improvement initiatives that shape the experience of medical trainees and faculty across the School of Medicine.

One of her most visible contributions is the GME Residency First Look series, virtual events where prospective applicants meet UCSF residents and faculty to hear candid perspectives on training at UCSF, moving to the Bay Area, and balancing residency with family life. Each session draws more than 200 attendees—testament to the appetite for connection and authenticity she helps cultivate.

“I feel like an innovator to be able to create something from nothing,” McFarlane said. “I’m so excited by it. The joy I have for this role sustains me.”

That joy is one of the first things people notice about her.

“Marisa is passionate, curious, collaborative – and she brings this incredible energy to our team,” said Gabby Negussie-Retta, MS, Strategic Initiatives Manager. “She’s been instrumental in reviving trainee-led projects like La Comunidad and the Patient Care Fund, and she’s led key efforts around food insecurity and peer support for trainees.”

Through the Patient Care Fund, residents receive UCSF Health grants to develop patient education initiatives that go beyond clinical care – like books in waiting rooms, pediatric hair and skin hygiene kits for Black patients, and rotating displays to enhance patient spaces.

“It’s Marisa’s deep well of knowledge and enthusiasm that brings people in,” said Negussie-Retta. “She’s a natural collaborator, but her ability to bring people together is what really sets her apart.”

That gift for connection has shaped McFarlane’s path since the start of her UCSF journey. Her first official role was in the School of Pharmacy, where she coordinated experiential education and scheduling. Seeking deeper connection, she joined UCSF’s Black Caucus and soon took on a project capturing oral histories from Caucus elders, drawing on her background in sociology and her love of storytelling.

Listening to those stories – especially memories of the 1970 janitors’ strike and the risks many workers took to fight for justice – sparked something in McFarlane.

“It made me think differently about my purpose at UCSF,” she said. “I realized I wanted to keep hearing people’s stories and helping others see themselves in this space.”

That realization led her to the Department of Neurosurgery, where she helped lead the Envision Internship Program for high school students of color from underserved communities in San Francisco. The program introduced students to health sciences and professional skill-building – planting seeds for the next generation of UCSF learners and leaders.

“Working with youth lit me up,” McFarlane said. “It brought together my passion for outreach, equity, and building pathways into this world.”

McFarlane often brings her creative passions into her work as well. A spoken word poet since high school and former aspiring actor, she’s lent her voice to UCSF training videos and performed original poetry at Campus Life Services’ open mics and UCSF’s Black Day of Healing.

Whether through poetry, mentorship, or programming, her focus remains the same: building community and helping others feel seen.

“It makes me very proud to be at UCSF for so long and to feel so valued,” she said. “We come for the passion of the work we do. But once you find that, you stay for the people.”