The director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference has left the diocese for a national position with Focus on the Family, an evangelical-based organization created to nurture and defend families worldwide based in Colorado Springs.

Attorney Kelly Rosati, who has been a lobbyist for the Diocese of Honolulu at the state capitol for about five years, will take on the post of Senior Director, Sanctity of Human Life, heading its ultrasound program and adoption/orphan care initiative at Focus on the Family on April 7.

In Hawaii, Rosati had also been executive director of Hawaii Family Forum, a non-profit pro-family education organization.

Rosati, who was a member of Kaimuki Christian Church, has long been an outspoken advocate for adoption, campaigning for local initiatives, particularly the adoption of foster children. She and her husband John Rosati have adopted four children: Daniel, 8, Anna, 6, Joshua, 5, and Hope, 3.

Rosati came to Hawaii in 1997 when her husband was stationed here with the U.S. Air Force. With a law degree from University of Nebraska College of Law and a few years of political and lobbying experience, she landed a job as executive director of the newly formed Hawaii Family Forum.

In that job she often crossed paths with the diocese’s public policy efforts and joined it in the fight against same-sex marriage and other endeavors.

Rosati moved with her family to her home state of Wisconsin in 2003, returning a year later back to her job at Hawaii Family Forum.

Soon after, the diocese invited the Hawaii Family Forum to become a formal partner with the Hawaii Catholic Conference in the area of public policy under the joint direction of Rosati.

The collaboration between the evangelical-based Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference is somewhat unique, and more so with Rosati, a Protestant, as the official voice of the Catholic Church.

Both groups plan to continue the joint arrangement and are now seeking a replacement for Rosati.

According to a job announcement released last week, the position calls for someone who can work “on a range of legislative and community issues including the sanctity of human life, social justice and poverty, and traditional marriage and values.”

The position represents both the Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference to the legislature and the broader community.

Applicants may send resumes to info@hawaiifamilyforum.org.