Caroline Manley has served as CDEL's Executive Director since September of 2019. As Executive Director, Caroline is responsible for the strategic direction of the organization and maintains strong relationships with CDEL's many supporters. 

Caroline began her legal career at CDEL by starting CDEL's Senior Legal Assistance Clinics. As a Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging Fellow, Caroline first implemented legal clinics in four of Cook County’s suburbs. She later expanded the program to ten communities throughout Cook County as an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by The Chicago Bar Foundation.  Caroline has represented clients in CDEL's full range of civil legal services including housing, end of life planning, family law and collections defense. 

Caroline has a lifelong passion for working with older adults. Before attending law school, she served as Program Coordinator at Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly where she worked with socially isolated seniors. 

Caroline attended the University of Illinois for her undergraduate degree in Sociology. She earned her Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from DePaul University where she was an active member of the Center for Public Interest Law and the Article Selection Editor of the DePaul Journal for Social Justice.  Caroline is a recipient of the Chicago Bar Foundation Sun-Times Public Interest Fellowship and a past Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Elder Law Committee.  She was named to the prestigious Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Forty Under 40 List in 2022.