It’s vital work that’s being done by activists like Michael Woo, a former Los Angeles city council member who now heads the Los Angeles office of the 11th largest nonprofit organization in the U.S., the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Last year, thanks to the Senior Fellows Program in the School of Public Policy and Social Research, Kelly found herself in Woo’s world. Assigned Woo as their mentor, Kelly and fellow policy studies student Dohee Kim “shadowed” him as he attended a housing task force meeting and later a retreat that focused on affordable housing issues.

“I saw that there’s a wide base of smart and savvy community leaders in the city working on social issues,” Kelly said. “It was great to know there is a place for me in this world, where people actually care and are working very hard to provide affordable housing.”

The Senior Fellows Program bridges the worlds of academia and policy-making and of analysis and action, said Dean Barbara J. Nelson, who initiated the program four years ago. Each year, accomplished policy leaders are selected to join a new class of 15 senior fellows to enrich students’ educational experiences by guest-lecturing and delivering policy briefings on current issues. As mentors, fellows are paired with students who share similar interests. They talk informally about internships, career opportunities and details about the fellows’ jobs and responsibilities.

This year’s crop of senior fellows includes such prominent local leaders as John W. Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League; national leaders such as former Senator Larry Pressler and former Congressman Bob Carr; and international leaders such as the Honorable José Luis Bernal, consul general of Mexico in Los Angeles, and Peter Bell, president of CARE, one of the world’s largest private relief and development organizations. They come from the public, private and nonprofit sectors and represent a wide range of political views.

For example, policy studies student Paula Harmer, who describes herself as “somewhat of a liberal Canadian,” believes she benefited from the philosophical differences with her mentor, Richard O’Donnell, a conservative from Colorado who serves as deputy chief of staff for Colorado Gov. Bill Owens.

“Being a mentor is to challenge and stretch the students — to get them to think outside of the box about things and gain a wider perspective on issues,” O’Donnell said.

Urban planning student Carolyn Leung had previously worked in fund-raising, but found it stimulating to hear about charitable giving from the foundation’s perspective through her mentor, Tom David, executive vice president for the California Wellness Foundation. “I was able to hear the other side,” said Leung, “how people set priorities and policies about distributing funds, and the decisions they make.”

“It’s important for students not to be confined to a career straitjacket, but to take full advantage of the freedom they have as students to explore a whole range of opportunities,” Woo noted.