Kelly James

As a LGBT Mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware, I work with queer and questioning students at Hodgson Vo-Tech High School and serve as a mentor through meetings with their High School Gay-Straight Alliance.

The Institute for Public Administration (IPA) is a Policy Research Center affiliated with the University of Delaware's school of Public Policy and Administration. Established in 1973, IPA addresses the policy, planning, and management needs of its partners through the integration of applied research, professional development, and the education of tomorrows leaders. This is accomplished through providing direct staff assistance, research, policy analysis, training, and forums while contributing to the scholarly body of knowledge in public administration. I began my work at IPA in June 2017, where I served as a Undergraduate Public Administration Fellow. During my time at IPA I have taken on various tasks from completing secretarial duties to supplementing supervisors research on their Mobility Project, which is being funded by the Delaware Department of Transportation. This projects goals are to provide more effective services of transportation for disadvantaged populations, including elderly people, people with disabilities, low income and no car households, and veterans. Most of my time at IPA has been dedicated to conducting a literature review of Coordinated Plans of various Department of Transportations (DOTs), Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and Regional Councils/Councils of Governments (RCs/COGs). After I conducted a thorough literature review of the various DOTs MPOs and RCs/COGs policies when it came to distributing 5310 funding, I compiled information about application scoring criteria, eligible activities and recipients of 5310 funding and other important policy information into a write up of the organizations policies. I have also worked with my team members to conduct outreach at various places across the state.