Each year, the Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation presents the Rhoda Lewis Award, named after the first female member of the Hawaii Supreme Court, to a woman attorney who has devoted her career to public service. The Legal Aid Society of Hawaii's own Deputy Director Angela Lovitt is this year's very well-deserved recipient of the award in recognition of her deep commitment to public interest. The Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation shares Angela's journey:

Angela grew up in St. Louis, MO and got her B.A. in Political Science. She moved to Hawaii soon after and worked for a while in Human Resources at Lex Brodie's. Not seeing this as a life-time career, she applied and got into WSRSL. There she was on the ABA Client Counseling Moot Court team which placed second nationally and were regional champions.

While at WSRSL, she started volunteering with Legal Aid and found her calling. She was started as a staff attorney soon after graduation and split time between the Kahalu'u office which was located at Key Project and the Honolulu office which was on Nu'uanu Avenue at that time. There she practiced in family, public benefits, and consumer law. She also would be joined at times by a rooster when talking with clients. She then became the head of the Consumer Unit where she represented clients on debt collection disputes, used car purchases, mortgage lending and servicing disputes, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. She also conducted outreach in the community, implemented a new housing counseling project, and created a Consumer Credit Manual for staff.

After about seven years, she decided to take a break where she travelled and worked part-time on Legal Aid's intake hotline. She then joined the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse & Legal Hotline (now DVAC) for about a year before finally returning to Legal Aid in 2007.

Since then, she has been the Director of Training and Special Projects, the Director of Professional Development & Compliance and since 2018, the Deputy Director. In these roles, she has guided and supervised the next generation of future lawyers in the AmeriCorps program and helped with the overall running of the organization. She is a self-described "mama bear" when it comes to ensuring the AmeriCorps members who are primarily recent college graduates are supported and find their way to their next school or career stage. Her care and concern for them is truly heartfelt.

While spending all of her legal career in legal services, Angela has also pursued an interest in teaching and has been an adjunct professor at WSRSL as a solo instruction since 2008. Her classes on client interviewing, client counseling and negotiations are always filled. She has also volunteered her time to coach the client counseling team in 2004.

Executive Director Nalani Fujimori Kaina shared, "Angela is truly a public interest warrior. Helping people navigate through some of their most difficult problems and advocating for justice is part of her core being. When she works with clients and staff you can hear and see her heartfelt compassion. I have been so honored to work side-by-side with her for so many years, she is definitely one of the caretakers who always ensures Legal Aid has heart and gives hope to our clients."