COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES PILLAR AWARD NAMED FOR LENA HOPKINS

'Through her authenticity and leadership, she inspired attorneys to give their time and talents in service to people who otherwise may not have had access to legal representation'

Honoring a career devoted to expanding access to justice, Community Legal Services has named its highest employee recognition the Lena Hopkins PILLAR Award in memory of the organization's longtime senior manager of pro bono services who passed away on June 29.

The annual award recognizes the employee who best exemplifies CLS' core values of passion, integrity, leadership, leverage, adaptability, and respect. CEO Jeffrey D. Harvey said Hopkins embodied those principles more fully than anyone else during her 27 years with the organization.

“Each year, CLS recognizes one staff member with our highest honor, the PILLAR Award, given to someone who most fully reflects the principles we instill in our team to carry forward,” said Jeffrey D. Harvey, the firm’s chief executive officer. “The award reflects the organization’s core values of passion, integrity, leadership, leverage, adaptability and respect. Beginning this year, the award will be known as the Lena Hopkins PILLAR Award because no one has embodied those values more completely than Lena.”

CLS, one of Florida’s largest legal aid organizations, serves more than two million people in 12 counties throughout Central Florida. Its legal professionals, staff and volunteer attorneys provide counsel to more than 10,000 people each year.

Hopkins served CLS for 27 years. She was known across the legal community for building lasting relationships with attorneys, encouraging them to take on pro bono cases, and making sure they felt supported and appreciated. Through her work, she helped expand access to legal representation for families and individuals across Central Florida, according to CLS.

“Lena believed that access to justice was a shared responsibility,” Harvey said. “Through her authenticity and leadership, she inspired attorneys to give their time and talents in service to people who otherwise may not have had access to legal representation.”

Hopkins was recognized locally, statewide, and nationally. She served as president of both the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association and the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals. She was a two-time recipient of the Kay B. Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award, which recognizes commitment and activism in the pro bono community. She was named an International Women’s Day Law and Government honoree by Ollin Women International and was inducted into the Marion County Black History Museum Archives in recognition of her work as an advocate for change. In 2025, she received the Daily Business Review’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2026, Hopkins received two national honors from the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals: the Tanya Nieman Pro Bono Professional of the Year Award and the Wm. Reece Smith, Jr., Special Services to Pro Bono Award. The awards recognized her commitment to civil pro bono services, her impact on pro bono legal systems, and her contributions to the access-to-justice movement.

Hopkins worked with The Florida Bar’s Income Protection Program and was instrumental in developing CLS’ signature Peer Academy to better train pro bono attorneys. She also recruited attorneys after the Pulse nightclub shooting to help the families of victims finalize estate planning documents. Her work extended to community-based efforts such as school supply drives, expungement and sealing workshops for young people seeking a second chance, and an alternative spring break program that introduced legal aid interns to public service.

“Her impact will continue through the programs she helped build, the attorneys she inspired, the partnerships she strengthened and the many people whose lives were changed because she believed legal help should be within reach,” Harvey said.

“We are honored that Lena was our colleague, and we are pleased to recognize her service by naming our highest employee award after her.”

The Lena Hopkins PILLAR Award will be presented each year during the organization's annual staff retreat in November.