Future of Legal Aid
LAWO Announces Leadership Change:
Kevin C. Mulder Retires
TOLEDO, OHIO – Legal Aid of Western Ohio (LAWO) and its Board of Trustees announce a leadership change as Kevin Mulder retires as of November 1, 2025.
After more than two decades of service as executive director, Kevin Mulder’s last day will be December 5, 2025. He has been with LAWO since 1999, first as a managing attorney and then, beginning in 2001, as executive director. Before joining LAWO, he spent eight years at LAWO’s partner firm, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) as a senior attorney and managing attorney, following earlier service as a federal district court law clerk and public defender.
Mulder has dedicated his career to strengthening access to justice for low-income individuals and families. Over the course of his tenure, he successfully guided LAWO through transitions in leadership, administrative changes, economic recessions, and other challenges that demanded both skill and temperament.
Under his direction, clients, employees, supporters, and community members have come to recognize that civil legal aid at LAWO is both critical and comprehensive, providing high-quality advocacy and serving every person with dignity, regardless of their ability to pay. The LAWO Board values Mulder’s commitment to excellence, his passion for client-centered advocacy, and his vision for justice in our communities. “The LAWO Board is deeply grateful to Mulder for his leadership and wishes him every happiness in retirement,” said Board President Robert Tucker.
At the LAWO Board of Trustees Meeting on September 25, 2025, they unanimously appointed Patricia Y. Hernández (Patty) to serve as LAWO’s acting executive director, effective November 1, 2025. Hernández currently serves as LAWO’s director of advocacy, a position she has held since December 2022.
Before her current role, Hernández spent five years with LAWO managing the agricultural workers program and over two decades at ABLE practicing in several areas of poverty law, including civil rights, education, immigration, and employment, among others. She is a nationally recognized leader in community lawyering and brings a deep understanding of both client and staff needs. Her collaborative, inquisitive, and steady leadership will continue to serve LAWO during this important transition in our 70+ year history.
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About LAWO: Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO) is a non-profit regional law firm that provides high-quality legal assistance in civil matters to help eligible low-income individuals and groups in western Ohio achieve self-reliance, equal justice, and economic opportunity.
Robert Tucker President, Board of Trustees Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO)
Kevin Mulder, Executive Director, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO)
Patricia Y. Hernández, Director of Advocacy, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO). Hernández will become the Acting Executive Director of Legal Aid of Western Ohio on November 5, 2025.
The Kevin C. Mulder Special Projects Fund will provide support for services and programs to improve accessibility and access of the communities we serve. The creation of a fund in honor of Kevin C. Mulder will be used to help clients improve their lives and meet their civil legal needs. With this funding, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO) would provide client legal services identified as priorities that are currently not funded and allow an expansion of current services.
The Kevin C. Mulder Fund is designed to provide seed money for new projects to improve client services by increasing client access to resources, providing wrap-around support to help clients move forward, and enhancing staff capacity to focus on client needs.
Key areas of funding:
Wrap-around services for client support
- Partner with community organizations to provide social work assistance for our clients. The fund will offset the costs of providing the wrap-around services needed by the communities we serve.
Improving client lives through education.
- Improve staff capacity through education and initiatives focused on building mastery of internal resources and applying new technology to meet client needs. Having staff using the best resources will improve client support and lead to better case outcomes.
Improving accessibility and functionality on websites and digital tools
- Add new accessibility and functionality to our website, social media. and other digital tools to help our clients access key resources to resolve their civil legal needs. Projects would include enhancing website capabilities and building digital tools to increase accessibility by seniors, those who have a disability, and other vulnerable populations.
- Updated and more accessible information will enable clients to address fraud, elder abuse, domestic violence, and other critical issues affecting their safety, independence, and stability.
- Added functionality using AI, enhanced search tools, and videos will improve tools for self-representation and access to other community resources.
- Added multilingual content, chatbots and other technology will improve the user experience.
We will have a volunteer committee that will assist with selecting projects each year. The goal is to preserve the principal of The Kevin C. Mulder Fund to provide long-term support in the years to come.
How to Give? See options below:
Online Link: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/KevinMulder
Give by check/Qualified Charitable Distribution
MEMO: Kevin Mulder Special Projects Fund
TAX ID EIN: 34-1485732