She entered private practice with the firm Arnold & Kangas centered on family law where she worked until 2017.

[3] Kangas worked on the finance committee of the town of Boxborough and ran unsuccessfully twice for State Representative—a position previously held by her father—as a Republican in 1970 and 1972.

[4][5] Kangas was appointed to the Governor's Council on the Status of Women in 1972 and began compiling statistics on the gender of elected officials in Massachusetts towns.

[7] She disagreed with some of the Republican platform positions, being pro-choice and pro-marriage equality, and worked for reform within the party.

She was co-founder of the Network for Women's Lives, an advocacy group providing intervention and support for victims of domestic violence.