Juan A. Figueroa
See Juan's biography page

Frances G. Padilla
Executive Vice President
fpadilla@universalhealthct.org

Frances G. Padilla provides strategic direction and leadership across all Foundation operations including its innovative policy, research and grant making strategies. Under Ms. Padilla’s direction, the Foundation’s research and policy initiatives led to the design of the historic SustiNet health care reform policy. She designed and facilitated the process of stakeholder input and feedback and coordinated the research team from the Urban Institute in Washington D.C. and MIT in Boston in designing the policy. Two implementation planning laws have subsequently been enacted. Ms. Padilla serves on the Governor’s SustiNet health reform board overseeing the next stage of realizing the SustiNet policy.

Her philanthropic career, which spans 30 plus years, began as a program officer at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. She later held positions at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven before moving on to found New Paradigms Consulting, a business which she grew into a nationally recognized enterprise.

Ms. Padilla currently serves on the board of the Center for Assessment and Policy Development, a national social policy think tank. She has been named to the National Partnership for Action Region I Health Equity Council, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, she is a co-founder of the Progreso Latino Fund of the Community Foundation, an endowment fund created to encourage Latino giving and to promote the educational, economic and social well-being of Latinos in the communities of Greater New Haven.

The New York City native is a graduate of Wesleyan University and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Kim Carrington
Accounting Assistant
kcarrington@universalhealthct.org

Linda Dahlmeyer
Vice President for Finance and Administration
ldahlmeyer@universalhealthct.org

Linda Dahlmeyer, CPA who serves as Vice President for Finance and Administration, is responsible for the Foundation’s financial management, investment management, grants management, and oversees the budget, growth and development of staff and leadership through hands on direction. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Dahlmeyer served as Associate Director of Administration and Finance for Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency. She also served as a Chief Financial Officer for Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center for Saint Francis Hospital and Controller for Rushford Center where she supported the merger with Mid-State Behavioral Health, both subsidiaries of Hartford Hospital. Prior to moving to Connecticut in 2001, Ms. Dahlmeyer was the principal for a local CPA firm in Dallas, Texas for 11 years.

Janet Davenport
Vice President for Communications
jdavenport@universalhealthct.org

Janet Davenport, who serves as Vice President for Communications, is responsible for the development, execution and oversight of all of the Foundation’s innovative communications strategies, including its award-winning public-policy and advocacy multi-media campaigns. An accomplished writer and journalist, Ms. Davenport was the Director of Communications at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain prior to joining the Foundation in 2004 as its Director of Communications. During her newspaper career spanning nearly 20 years, she held various reporting and editing positions, including Editorial Writer on the Editorial Board of The Hartford Courant and Editorial Page Editor at the Springfield Newspapers in Western Massachusetts. Her contributions to the journalism profession have been recognized by organizations including Times-Mirror, The National Society of Professional Journalists, The National Society of Op-ed Editors and The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the Communications Network and NABJ, on whose national board she served as New England Director during her tenure at the Courant.

David Desiderato
Field Organizer
ddesiderato@universalhealthct.org

David Desiderato joined the staff in February 2011. He is responsible for organizing outreach, education, leadership support, and other field activity to achieve the goals of healthcare4every1. David has two decades of experience building strong social change organizations: at Northeast Action, a regional organizing center serving New England and New York; in Hartford as director of a research and action center for city organizing groups; and at the Connecticut Citizen Action Group as action researcher on a wide range of issues. He twice acted as liaison between national health reform campaigns and state campaigns.

Carole Dicks
Administrative Assistant-Finance and Administration
cdicks@universalhealthct.org

Lola Elliott-Hugh
Senior Aide to the President
lelliott-hugh@universalhealthct.org

Lola Elliott-Hugh was named Senior Aide to the President after serving as organizer for the Foundation‘s “Stand Up for Health Care” rally in May of 2007. Immediately prior, Ms. Elliott-Hugh was the Program Manager of the University of Connecticut‘s Urban and Community Studies program. One of the founding members of Foodshare, the Greater Hartford region‘s food bank and an organization working to end hunger, she created, launched and served as Director of the AIDS Legal Network for Connecticut. She was also the Director of Social Services for The Salvation Army in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Lynne Ide
Director of Advocacy
lide@universalhealthct.org

Lynne Ide who joined the Foundation in January 2006 as the Campaign Manager of the Foundation’s healthcare4every1 organizing initiative, is responsible for the development, coordination and execution of the Foundation’s health care advocacy and organizing efforts. Under her leadership, the Foundation’s healthcare4every1 grass-roots campaign galvanized a broad-based coalition that pushed for the passage of landmark health care reform legislation which was passed into law in 2009. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Ide 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 community organizing and issue advocacy in Connecticut since 1981.

Meshie Knight
Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President
mknight@universalhealthct.org

Meshie Knight, who joined the Foundation in July 2011, is responsible for overseeing the daily administrative operations of the Executive Vice President’s office. Ms. Knight, a former Studio Operator at the world renowned ESPN with a professional background in communications, came to the Foundation from the Center for Children’s Advocacy, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting and promoting the legal rights of poor children.

Kimberly Sessions
Communications and Media Specialist
ksessions@universalhealthct.org

Jill Zorn
Senior Program Officer
jzorn@universalhealthct.org

Jill Zorn’s responsibilities include monitoring and analyzing state and federal health policy trends, working with researchers on health policy development, grants management and forging relationships between the Foundation and the health care provider and advocacy communities. Ms. Zorn, who joined the foundation in 2006, has a background in health care administration. He former positions include Assistant Vice President for Planning at Mount Sinai Hospital in Hartford, Support Services Administrator for Kaiser Permanente’s health centers in the Hartford area and Chapter Programs Director for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Connecticut Chapter.