Options for Independence promoted a 10-year disability rights advocate and its programming director to become its new executive director, according to a news release.

Tracy L. Murphy's experience in grant writing and grants administration and her background in the “independent living” movement were assets cited by Nancy Wise, the chair of the Board of Directors of Options for Independence.

She also is the former executive director of the Northern Regional Center for Independent Living in Watertown.

She has worked as a grants procurement specialist for the Syracuse City School District and as director of marketing and development for Rosewood Heights Health Center in Syracuse and the Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency in Auburn.

Murphy has a bachelor's degree from Columbia College, a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law.

She lives in Syracuse, but she is relocating to Cayuga County.

Murphy is succeeding Guy Cosentino, who left after 11 years of leading the agency to become the executive director of the Stardust Foundation of Central New York.

Options is one of 36 independent living centers in New York.

It serves individuals with disabilities, their families and service providers in Cayuga and Seneca counties.