BERKELEY – Count Talya Franco as another McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative (MLI) Future Leader who has parlayed the program into a full-time job with Cal Athletics.
 
According to the MLI website, the purpose of the fellowship "is to provide minorities a jump-start to their careers through practical experiences, opportunities to build their network, and instilling the values of John McLendon: Integrity, Education, Leadership, and Mentorship."
 
Of Mexican and German descent, Franco is a San Francisco Bay Area product from San Mateo. A University of Oregon graduate who majored in journalism, she followed Divya Tunwal as an MLI Future Leader in Berkeley, working with various units in Cal Athletics during her tenure over the past year. Franco, who also earned a master's degree from the University of San Francisco's sports management program, worked with facilities, event management, equipment and compliance, and shadowed staffers in other units at Cal.
 
"I really enjoyed all the different departments that I learned about," she said. "I was really excited that Cal had an opportunity like that, especially at such a prestigious school. I was just really excited to get to know the business side and the operations side of how a sports organization was run."
 
"Her work was exemplary," said Assistant Athletic Director Casey Cox, who helped guide Franco through her fellowship.
 
The MLI program is funded by college coaches, with Cal football and men's basketball providing the backing for Franco's position. The culture of Cal Athletics supports this opportunity and values its partnership with the McLendon Foundation. The Bears are is in the process of finding a new MLI Future Leader for 2023.
 
"This program is extremely important, especially to people who may not have the access to this industry," Cox said. "My role has been, once they get in the door, to help them get experience for their future career and make sure we give them face time with departments they wouldn't normally get. That's extremely important."
 
The fellowship led Tunwal to a full-time position in event management at Cal last year before she moved on as a performance analyst/opposition scout with the San Jose State women's soccer team.
 
Playing sports and working in athletics were important to Franco from an early age. When she was 9, she dreamt of a career in sports journalism. She also grew up playing softball.
 
"My mom played, my aunt played, my sister played, my grandma played," she said. "It was ingrained in my blood to play softball. I played it competitively from age 5 to when I graduated high school. I did travel ball as well and went down the route of trying to do college athletics. As things progressed and I got more into the recruiting process, I realized that path wasn't for me. When the opportunity presented itself to me, I decided to go the other route of really focusing on my academics. I was really passionate about sports journalism, and I took the leap."
 
Franco fostered both of her sports passions at Oregon. Along with working towards her bachelor's degree, she was a video production intern and worked for DuckTV in front of and behind the camera. Playing college softball hadn't worked out, but she scratched her competitive itch by joining the rugby club team in Eugene.
 
"I absolutely loved it," she said. "I played rugby for the first few years in college until I got deeper into sports reporting, and I had to decide to step way. After graduating, I ended up joining an amateur team in East Palo Alto, the Razorhawks. That was really fun. I played in a few tournaments and played with a few people who are now playing in the pro league."
 
Fast forward to the present. With her MLI tenure complete, Franco sought work. Her interests converged when the Cal rugby team hired her as an assistant coach who will also be taking on operations responsibilities.
 
"That's the greatest compliment you can get – someone you work with moves on to bigger and better things in the department," Cox said. "That means we did something right. It feels fulfilling that you had a hand in somebody getting an opportunity."
 
Franco added, "In my next opportunity I really wanted to be a part of the team. When this opportunity got presented, I did anything I could to convince them that I would do literally anything to learn from them. Coach Jack Clark and (associate head coach) Tom Billups have been a part of the rugby program for so long and have so much knowledge, I look forward to learning from them."