The American Bar Association will recognize recipients of its Spirit of Excellence Award at the Titans for Change Gala during the 2027 ABA Midyear Meeting in Chicago.
The award, presented by the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, recognizes the exceptional efforts and accomplishments of lawyers who work to promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. It will be awarded Jan. 30, 2027, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk
Commission Chair Jin Y. Hwang said the honorees represent the best of the legal profession, adding, “We are at a consequential moment for the legal profession and for the rule of law itself. At such a moment, silence and complacency cannot define our response. The rule of law is strengthened when our institutions are open to all, when every person is afforded dignity and equal opportunity and when lawyers and leaders have the courage to defend those principles even when doing so is difficult.
“Our 2027 honorees have spent their careers doing precisely that — breaking barriers, challenging inequity, expanding access to justice, opening doors for others and ensuring that the next generation has the opportunity not simply to enter our profession, but to belong, lead and thrive,” Hwang said
The 2027 Spirit of Excellence Award recipients are:
• Ruthe Catolico Ashley, a founding partner of the first Asian American woman-owned law firm in Sacramento, became the first Asian American assistant dean at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and the first diversity officer and division chief for external affairs at CalPERS. She helped establish California’s first public high school Law Academies, which have expanded to 26 academies serving thousands of students and later created California LAW (Leadership, Access, Workforce) and founded the California Legal Pathways Collaborative. She is the first Filipina American to serve on the American Bar Association Board of Governors.
• Colonel Will A. Gunn, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Harvard Law School, made history in 2003 when he was selected as the first chief defense counsel for the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, where he established the office responsible for defending detainees facing military commissions. He later was appointed by President Barack Obama as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and today serves as vice president for legal affairs and general counsel of the Legal Services Corporation, where his work supports civil legal assistance for low-income Americans. Gunn also has served as a past chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, where he championed greater representation and inclusion across the profession.
• Justice Sabrina Shizue McKenna, appointed to the Hawaii Supreme Court in 2011 after 17 years as a state trial court judge, became the first openly LGBTQ Asian Pacific American to serve on a state court of last resort and served as acting chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court from October 2025 to May 2026. She has addressed LGBTQ+ and civil rights issues in Hawaii, across the continental United States and internationally, including advocacy surrounding Title IX. Within the Hawaii judiciary, she helped advance the inclusion of gender identity and gender expression in anti-bias and harassment policies and judicial conduct protections.
• Kalpana Srinivasan, in 2020, became the first woman, first person of color and first attorney in the firm’s history to rise through Susman Godfrey’s associate ranks to become managing partner. An accomplished courtroom strategist and advocate, Srinivasan is committed to increasing opportunities for women and lawyers from historically underrepresented communities. Her honors include the Chambers Gender Diversity Lawyer of the Year Award, the South Asian Bar Association of North America’s Cornerstone Award, and, in 2026, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s Justice in Action Award. Through mentorship, sponsorship and her example as one of the nation’s prominent women of color leading a major litigation firm, Srinivasan has demonstrated that diversity in leadership is not separate from excellence — it is an essential component of a stronger and more representative profession.
• Drucilla “Dru” Stender Ramey (In Memoriam) was a pioneering civil rights lawyer, educator, bar executive and institution builder whose career helped create lasting infrastructure for diversity and equal opportunity within the legal profession. A graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, Ramey began her legal career working on civil rights and school desegregation matters, including service as a Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) attorney specializing in tri-ethnic school desegregation cases. She later served as executive director and general counsel of the Bar Association of San Francisco, where in 1989 she helped found the California Minority Counsel Program — an organization that continues more than three decades later to expand professional opportunities and leadership pathways for attorneys of color. She also served as executive director of the National Association of Women Judges, dean of Golden Gate University School of Law, the first woman to chair the ACLU of Northern California Board of Directors, a founding vice president of California Women Lawyers, chair of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women and board chair of Equal Rights Advocates. Ramey’s legacy is one of turning civil rights principles into enduring institutions, programs and opportunities that continue to influence the profession and advance justice.
The award, presented by the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, recognizes the exceptional efforts and accomplishments of lawyers who work to promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. It will be awarded Jan. 30, 2027, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk
Commission Chair Jin Y. Hwang said the honorees represent the best of the legal profession, adding, “We are at a consequential moment for the legal profession and for the rule of law itself. At such a moment, silence and complacency cannot define our response. The rule of law is strengthened when our institutions are open to all, when every person is afforded dignity and equal opportunity and when lawyers and leaders have the courage to defend those principles even when doing so is difficult.
“Our 2027 honorees have spent their careers doing precisely that — breaking barriers, challenging inequity, expanding access to justice, opening doors for others and ensuring that the next generation has the opportunity not simply to enter our profession, but to belong, lead and thrive,” Hwang said
The 2027 Spirit of Excellence Award recipients are:
• Ruthe Catolico Ashley, a founding partner of the first Asian American woman-owned law firm in Sacramento, became the first Asian American assistant dean at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and the first diversity officer and division chief for external affairs at CalPERS. She helped establish California’s first public high school Law Academies, which have expanded to 26 academies serving thousands of students and later created California LAW (Leadership, Access, Workforce) and founded the California Legal Pathways Collaborative. She is the first Filipina American to serve on the American Bar Association Board of Governors.
• Colonel Will A. Gunn, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Harvard Law School, made history in 2003 when he was selected as the first chief defense counsel for the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, where he established the office responsible for defending detainees facing military commissions. He later was appointed by President Barack Obama as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and today serves as vice president for legal affairs and general counsel of the Legal Services Corporation, where his work supports civil legal assistance for low-income Americans. Gunn also has served as a past chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, where he championed greater representation and inclusion across the profession.
• Justice Sabrina Shizue McKenna, appointed to the Hawaii Supreme Court in 2011 after 17 years as a state trial court judge, became the first openly LGBTQ Asian Pacific American to serve on a state court of last resort and served as acting chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court from October 2025 to May 2026. She has addressed LGBTQ+ and civil rights issues in Hawaii, across the continental United States and internationally, including advocacy surrounding Title IX. Within the Hawaii judiciary, she helped advance the inclusion of gender identity and gender expression in anti-bias and harassment policies and judicial conduct protections.
• Kalpana Srinivasan, in 2020, became the first woman, first person of color and first attorney in the firm’s history to rise through Susman Godfrey’s associate ranks to become managing partner. An accomplished courtroom strategist and advocate, Srinivasan is committed to increasing opportunities for women and lawyers from historically underrepresented communities. Her honors include the Chambers Gender Diversity Lawyer of the Year Award, the South Asian Bar Association of North America’s Cornerstone Award, and, in 2026, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s Justice in Action Award. Through mentorship, sponsorship and her example as one of the nation’s prominent women of color leading a major litigation firm, Srinivasan has demonstrated that diversity in leadership is not separate from excellence — it is an essential component of a stronger and more representative profession.
• Drucilla “Dru” Stender Ramey (In Memoriam) was a pioneering civil rights lawyer, educator, bar executive and institution builder whose career helped create lasting infrastructure for diversity and equal opportunity within the legal profession. A graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, Ramey began her legal career working on civil rights and school desegregation matters, including service as a Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) attorney specializing in tri-ethnic school desegregation cases. She later served as executive director and general counsel of the Bar Association of San Francisco, where in 1989 she helped found the California Minority Counsel Program — an organization that continues more than three decades later to expand professional opportunities and leadership pathways for attorneys of color. She also served as executive director of the National Association of Women Judges, dean of Golden Gate University School of Law, the first woman to chair the ACLU of Northern California Board of Directors, a founding vice president of California Women Lawyers, chair of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women and board chair of Equal Rights Advocates. Ramey’s legacy is one of turning civil rights principles into enduring institutions, programs and opportunities that continue to influence the profession and advance justice.
