JUAN A. FIGUEROA

As its first president, Juan A. Figueroa has led Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut’s strategic direction and growth since January 2003. During his tenure, the Foundation has made a major impact on health care policy and reform in the state. Under Mr. Figueroa’s leadership, the Foundation has engaged a broad-base coalition of residents in a successful grassroots organizing campaign that won passage of SustiNet, Connecticut’s historic health care reform legislation in 2009.

The Foundation’s expanded partnerships and role in effectively bringing together business and labor, medical providers, clergy and members of the philanthropic community are widely attributed to Mr. Figueroa’s visionary and inclusive leadership style. The Foundation’s groundbreaking grant making, research and communications strategies have garnered national recognition including the Council on Foundations’ prestigious Wilmer Shields Award for public policy campaigns in 2009. Mr. Figueroa is a recipient of the Progressive State Network’s Leader Award, and was named a Health Care Hero by the Hartford Business Journal in 2007.

Mr. Figueroa brings a successful background in policy, law and civil rights to his position at the helm of the Foundation. He is a former Connecticut legislator and Assistant Attorney General, having also served as a staff attorney for the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Prior to coming to the Foundation, Mr. Figueroa was the president and general counsel of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City. During the Clinton Administration, he worked with the President and his top advisers on affirmative action, judicial appointments and other issues relevant to Latinos.

A former op-ed columnist for the Hartford Courant, his views and opinions have appeared in print and broadcast. Mr. Figueroa’s national news roster includes The Today Show, Crossfire, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox and Telemundo. He serves on the boards of the Progresso Latino Fund, Latinos for National Health Insurance, Partnership for Strong Communities, and the Proteus Fund.

Mr. Figueroa received his Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University in California and his Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He received honorary doctorates from CUNY Law School in New York and Charter Oak College in Connecticut, and has taught at New York University Law School. Mr. Figueroa is a native of Ciales, Puerto Rico.