Staff & Board

Caprice Taylor Mendez

President

Caprice Taylor Mendez was appointed President of Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut in March 2023.

As a graduate of Boston College and Harvard, Caprice has over a decade of experience as a leader, organizer, coalition builder, trainer, advocate, and communicator. With her diverse experience working in various types of organizations, including non-profit, grassroots and community-based, philanthropic, municipal government, academic, and policy advocacy-based, Caprice's leadership will spearhead Universal's work to build power for health justice in partnership with community organizing groups and allies in the struggle for racial, social, and economic justice. 

Caprice is instrumental in guiding Universal's mission of centering Black, Brown, immigrant, low-income, chronically ill, disabled, and youth-based community organizing groups and allies in the fight for racial, social, and economic justice. 

At five years old, Caprice immigrated to Connecticut from Guatemala and is a longtime New Haven resident. She also hosts a weekly radio show on La Voz Hispana de Connecticut. 

Caprice steps into the position upon the retirement of Universal's president, Frances G. Padilla. Frances served as president for ten years after succeeding Universal's founding president, Juan Figueroa.

Email

Rosana G. Ferraro

Program Lead for Health Justice Policy Advocacy

Rosana G. Ferraro is a Policy & Program Officer at Universal Health Care. She supports the Foundation’s policy, advocacy, and grantmaking priorities to achieve accessible, equitable, affordable, high-quality health care for all.

Rosana has worked in the non-profit sector for over ten years, focusing on children, youth, and families, predominantly in the New Haven area. She was a fellow in the Annie E. Casey Foundation Elm City Fellowship for Children and Families.

Just prior to working at Universal Health Care, she completed an internship at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, DC, as a Fisher Cummings Fellow from Columbia’s School of Social Work. She received her BA from Yale University and graduated from Columbia with a Masters of Social Work, with a focus in Social Policy. She is originally from Puerto Rico.

Email

Rabera Sharon

Program Lead for Health Justice Organizing & Advocacy

Rabera is the Program Officer for Health Justice. She believes in the power of cross-movement work for greater impact because social justice issues are interconnected. Rabera supports Universal’s Health Justice work being done in collaboration with CT-based grassroots organizations and advocates working to address the Social Determinants of Health in Connecticut.

Rabera has worked in the non-profit sector for over ten years. She has worked with feminist grassroot organizations in Sub-Sahara Africa working to address Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights around the continent. Rabera has also collaborated with various organizations across the state working on a range of social justice issues.

Email

Lynne Ide

Program Lead for Communications, Outreach & Engagement

Lynne Ide is Director of Program and Policy. She began her work at Universal Health Care in 2006 as coordinator of the healthcare4every1 campaign, a broad-based, grassroots effort that won passage of a landmark health reform law in 2009. She has been a leader in the Protect Our Care CT campaign, which formed in 2017 to protect against cuts to the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare, and women’s health.

She is responsible for the development, coordination, and execution of Universal Health Care’s health care policy advocacy, outreach and education efforts, consumer engagement, convening partners, and grant-making strategy.

Prior to joining Universal Health Care, Lynne served as Associate Director of the Connecticut Housing Coalition, Director of the Legislative Electoral Action Program (LEAP), and Director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG).

She has been involved in coalition building, organizing and issue advocacy in Connecticut since 1981.

Email

Eboney D. Rose

Executive Assistant

Eboney D. Rose is the executive assistant. She supports Universal Health Care’s president as well as the staff as a whole. Eboney has worked in the non-profit sector for over five years, has two children, and is an active leader in her church community in Hartford.

Email