LADIES' GALLERY

Capri Cafaro was appointed to the Ohio Senate in 2007. One year after becoming a member of the Ohio General Assembly, Cafaro secured a leadership position as the Assistant Minority Whip for the Senate Democrats. In January 2009 she was sworn in as the Ohio Senate Minority Leader.

Cafaro graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in American Studies and from Georgetown University with an MALS in International Studies. She has a long-standing interest in public policy pertaining to health care and the needs of older adults. She has served on the Trumbull County Senior Services Advisory Council and was a state policy liaison for Ohio with the National Patient Advocate Foundation. She was also a state advocate representative for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and served as a counselor for the Medicare Rights Center. Cafaro has also acted as an Economic Policy Associate for Global Action on Aging, an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations. Additionally, as a participant in the Clinton Global Initiative, she developed a project on Anti-Corruption efforts in emerging democracies.

Cafaro was presented with the 2007-08 Legislator of the Year Award by the Ohio Association of Advanced Practice Nurses for her outstanding contributions to the practice of advanced nursing and advocacy of health care-related legislation. She was also honored as 2008 Woman of the Year Award by the Liberty Historical Society. In 2008, she was named a Friend of Agriculture by the Ohio Farm Bureau. In November 2008 she was awarded the honor of being one of the five MVP's in her "40 under 40" Class, selected and hosted by the Mahoning Valley 20/30 Club. 

Biography courtesy of the Ohio Senate, 2009.