Bates honored by BU Law School

Kelly Bates, founding executive director of Emerson's Elma Lewis Center.

Kelly Bates, founding executive director of Emerson’s Elma Lewis Center for Civic Engagement, Learning, and Research, will receive the Victor J. Garo Public Service Award on Thursday, October 10, during Boston University Law School’s Pro Bono Program Kick-Off.

Bates, who is a 1994 alumna of the law school, will talk about her pro bono and public service attorney work, and ways one can build pro bono service into law school experience and a career as an attorney.

Bates’s career spans politics, public policy, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, business development, and human services. She has been deeply involved in grassroots lobbying, community action, coalition building, and political education.