Position: Programs and Political Director, CIL; Berkeley, CA

The Center for Independent Living is looking for a visionary Programs and Political Director to join our leadership team.

The Center for Independent Living (CIL), founded in Berkeley as the nation’s first independent living center, is a pioneer of the disability rights and independent living movement. Our radical legacy is rooted in peer-led advocacy, cross-disability solidarity, and the belief that all people with disabilities have the right to live with dignity, choice, and freedom. Today, CIL provides advocacy and direct services that increase awareness, collaboration, and opportunity among people with disabilities and the broader community.

Our programs equip people with skills, knowledge, and resources to challenge ableism, eliminate barriers, and pursue lives they value.

The Program & Political Director/Deputy Director is a core member of CIL’s Executive Leadership Team and the Executive Director’s strategic partner. This role ensures the vision, design, delivery, and impact of CIL’s programs while advancing community-driven advocacy and political leadership.

The Deputy Director will oversee program managers and staff, ensuring excellence in service delivery, innovation in program design, and accountability through data and evaluation. They will lead CIL’s political engagement and advocacy strategy, building coalitions, shaping campaigns, and ensuring that CIL’s advocacy is powered by, and accountable to, disabled communities.

This position is both movement-builder and program leader: a bridge between CIL’s radical legacy and the systems and structures needed to sustain impact into the future.

• Leadership & Supervision
• Supervise, mentor, and support Program Managers and staff with regular check-ins, evaluations, and leadership development.
• Foster team effectiveness through program manager meetings, planning processes, and collaborative problem-solving.
• Model equitable and peer-based leadership, guiding managers in supporting staff, addressing challenges, and building thriving programs.

• Partner with the Executive Director and Leadership Team to set CIL’s vision, values, and strategies across program, advocacy, and operations.
• Serve as a bridge between leadership and staff, ensuring communication, alignment, and accountability.
• Collaborate with the Board of Directors on programmatic and advocacy priorities.
• Partner on budgeting, fundraising, and grant development to ensure the sustainability and growth of programs.
• Lead the design and implementation of programs that integrate direct service, peer support, and advocacy.
• Innovate new program models rooted in community needs, disability justice, and consumer leadership.
• Ensure programs are inclusive, cross-disability, intersectional, and responsive to evolving community contexts.

• Lead CIL’s political engagement, advocacy campaigns, and coalition partnerships.
• Ensure disabled voices are centered in all advocacy efforts, from local organizing to state and federal policy.
• Translate program data and consumer experience into advocacy campaigns that drive systemic change

• Oversee program compliance, contracts, and reporting, ensuring timely deliverables and funder accountability.
• Partner with the Data Administrator to strengthen data collection, evaluation, and community impact dashboards.
• Reimagine evaluation by developing outcome measures that reflect empowerment, independence, and justice—not just compliance.

• Embody and champion Disability Justice principles, anti-racism, anti-ableism, and intersectional liberation.
• Foster an accessible, inclusive workplace where staff with lived experience can grow into leadership roles.
• Ensure staff and consumers have meaningful roles in shaping CIL’s direction

• Demonstrated experience in direct services, advocacy, or community organizing within disability movements or allied justice movements.
• Supervisory/leadership experience with diverse staff, including people with different access needs and lived…