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Our 2021 Pro Bono Award Winners

We are excited to announce this year’s Pro Bono Award recipients.

ELAP’s annual Pro Bono Awards recognize outstanding volunteer contributions to our community’s legal needs. Our winners include attorneys, firms, community partners, and individual justice champions.

Pro Bono Attorney of the Year: Melissa Golan

Melissa Golan, a private practice attorney, has been consistently present for clients in our Family Law clinics since 2017. She handles family law issues, including domestic violence cases, with compassion and expertise, to give the people she’s serving the best legal support she can. She has served more than 80 clients in the past three years. Melissa even fills in with additional clinic slots at the last minute when another volunteer has to cancel. 

Law Firm or Corporate Partner: Northwest Advocacy Foundation

Jessica Lewis and Elena Yager at Northwest Advocacy Foundation have been exceptional partners in ELAP’s new Low Bono Program. They are incredibly skilled at helping clients who are grappling with complex cases, time constraints, or severe trauma. Jessica and Elena are dynamic and committed attorneys who always demonstrate compassion for the people we serve.

Community Partner: TeamLogic IT

TeamLogic IT provides significant pro bono IT services to help ELAP manage complex technical and security systems. Their team put in countless additional hours during the past year to help ensure everything continued to run smoothly for us during a challenging year. TeamLogic IT has great support, wonderful customer service, and a strategic eye for our organization’s future.

Volunteer of the Year: Ani O’Hara

Ani O’Hara has dedicated considerable time and energy to help us meet our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. She provides coaching and tools to help ELAP’s staff team communicate effectively during our second year of working remotely. Her work is integral to the emotional and mental well-being of our staff.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ted Watts

Ted has dedicated his volunteer career to ELAP for decades. He consistently goes the extra mile for clients he sees in our clinics, doing additional research, writing memos and letters, and making calls on behalf of the people he’s serving. He does more in one year than many volunteers do in their entire volunteer career, and he has done it year after year. Ted chose to commit to ELAP’s mission, and we are incredibly grateful for his dedication.  

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