For more than three decades, Frances Padilla has been a strong, unwavering advocate for families and communities in Connecticut. She has been on the frontlines of some of the most important achievements in philanthropy and health public policy. She is a well-respected advocate on behalf of children, families for low- and moderate-income people in Connecticut
Before assuming her current role as President of the Universal Health Care Foundation in 2012, Ms. Padilla served for 8 years as vice president for program and policy and as executive vice president. She has strengthened the organization’s standing as one of the state’s most effective and powerful foundations advocating for Connecticut consumers and patients. Ms. Padilla created the policy development program and stakeholder input process at the Foundation that served as the underpinnings for the landmark SustiNet legislation passed in 2009 and 2011.
With a proven track record in nonprofit management and leadership, Ms. Padilla serves on the boards of some of the most influential organizations working to improve health care. She is a member of the Board of Directors and serves on the Executive Committee of Qualidigm, the premier quality improvement organization working with leaders of hospitals, nursing homes and physician practices in Connecticut and other New England states. She serves on the Board and Executive Committee of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. She was also elected to the Board and chairs the Government Relations and Policy Committee of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy.
Ms. Padilla was recently re-appointed by the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives to the Governor’s Health Care Cabinet, as a consumer advocate, to help formulate a state strategy for alleviating the spending burden on Connecticut families, businesses and government created by the high cost of health care in the state. She was also appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to the Connecticut Healthcare Innovation Steering Committee overseeing the implementation of a $45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation.
In addition. Ms. Padilla is a founding Leadership Council member of the Connecticut Choosing Wisely Collaborative, a diverse, multi-stakeholder group committed to the widespread adoption of Choosing Wisely® to improve health care practice and prevent unnecessary care and costs.
Ms. Padilla graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology. After completing graduate work in public administration and public policy, she received her Master’s in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She began her career at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, where she influenced more than $5 million of annual funding for health and human services, education and the arts. She went on to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven where she led initiatives in neighborhood leadership and youth development. Ms. Padilla later founded New Paradigms Consulting, which she grew into a nationally recognized organization serving foundations, nonprofit organizations, and governmental agencies, facilitating multi-stakeholder problem-solving collaborations, and other services.
Ms. Padilla is a proud resident of New Haven, with a long history of community service. She served on the New Haven Board of Education, and on the boards of The Hospital of Saint Raphael and the Community Loan Fund of Greater New Haven. She and her husband John co-founded the Progreso Latino Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, an endowment fund created to encourage Latino giving and to promote the educational, economic and social well-being of Latinos in Greater New Haven.