News & Commentary written by Karla Gilbride

Karla Gilbride joined ACLU in May of 2026 as deputy director of the Disability Rights Program. In that role she helps to lead a team of litigators to combat disability discrimination and strive for full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of civic life.

Before coming to ACLU, Karla served as deputy director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, where she filed lawsuits seeking to halt the dismantling of USAID and other federal agencies. Before that, she served as general counsel of the EEOC from October of 2023 until January of 2025, where she led the agency’s litigation program to enforce federal laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace. Prior to her time at the EEOC, she worked at the nonprofits Disability Rights Advocates and Public Justice, as well as the plaintiffs’ law firm of Mehri & Skalet, focusing on civil and workers’ rights litigation, consumer class actions, and expanding access to the civil justice system.

Karla graduated from Georgetown Law School and clerked for Judge Ronald Gould on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C., New York, and California, and before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal district and appellate courts.