Joshua Mayfield

Joshua Mayfield: Marketing major devotes year after graduation to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest

Recent marketing graduate Joshua Mayfield is currently serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest in Juneau, Alaska. The Long Beach, Calif. native is working as a Health and Living Specialist at a youth center, mentoring and counseling at-risk teens.

“I love that service is not only a practice at LMU but ingrained in the mission,” Joshua said. “When I’m out serving I just feel a fire burning inside of me and I’m grateful that I get to share my gifts and talents for the betterment of the world.”

The recipient of the 2016 Fr. Graham S.J. Award for devotion to service, not to mention a Student Leadership Award, Joshua was an active member of LMU’s Campus Ministry and Ignacio Companions, traveling to such far-off locales as Jamaica, Ecuador, Tanzania, and Rwanda as a part of their immersion trips.

Joshua says the experiences provided him with unique insight into the lives of people living on the margins.

“We were washing walls at a school on one of our last days in Ecuador,” Joshua said, “and this little six-year-old girl named Illiana left recess to join in. She really put her heart into it, and you could tell she was unfazed by the poverty around her and was just happy to serve and help others. So my mantra now is ‘serve with the mind and heart of a six-year-old.’”

Additionally, Joshua embarked on “The Pilgrimage” with Campus Ministry, following the footsteps of St. Ignatius on a 12-day trek through Spain and was a Tomodochi Inouye Scholar, spending time in Japan in order to develop his international leadership skills.

“LMU has not only afforded me the chance to travel a lot,” Joshua said, “but has really opened my eyes to the world.”

As a member of LMU’s prestigious M-School Institute of Marketing, Joshua successfully integrated his socially-conscious ideals into his academic work.

“My cohort and I partnered with a non-profit (Humanity Rising) and ran a paid-search campaign on Google AdWords competing for ad space with marketing professionals all over the world,” Joshua said. “It was cool to make a positive change for a non-profit right from the classroom.”

Following his year of service, Joshua hopes to put his marketing degree to good use by securing a position with a company with a “social conscious,” in hopes of living out his Jesuit values in every aspect of his life.

“I’m excited to connect and grow with the community in Juneau and use my passion to help solve the world’s greatest needs,” Joshua said.