Area of Expertise

Health care policy, transportation, infrastructure, finance and policy, U.S. foreign policy U.S. politics, women in politics and leadership, state-federal relationship, campaigns and elections

Additional Information

Capri S. Cafaro, former Democratic leader of the Ohio State Senate, is an executive-in-residence and adjunct professorial lecturer at American University’s School of Public Affairs During her ten years in the Ohio State Senate, Cafaro advocated for economic growth and development, access to health care and victim’s rights. She authored several bills and laws aimed at the economic growth and revitalization of small businesses in the largest city in her area. Cafaro drew upon her extensive experience in health-care policy and social-service delivery to author Ohio’s Medicaid reform law. She also was the sponsor of the law that established the protocol to clear the state’s extensive rape kit backlog, making Ohio the 6th state to enact such a law. As a state Senator, Cafaro received numerous awards including being recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Ohio Association of Advanced Practice Nurses, The Ohio Speech and Hearing Association, The Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging, The Ohio Am Vets, the Ohio Soy/Corn/Wheat Association and the Ohio Public Children Services Association. Her Ohio Senate committee assignments included serving as the ranking member of both the Senate Medicaid Committee, the Joint Committee on Medicaid Oversight (JMOC) and the Senate Transportation, Commerce and Labor Committee. She was Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education, and was also a member of the Senate Ways and Means, Agriculture, Energy/Natural Resources and the Joint Legislative Ethics (JLEC) Committees. Cafaro has been a frequent guest on both TV and radio news programs sharing her insights on the 2016 election cycle and current policy issues. She has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CBC, France 24 and a variety of Sirius XM and Fox affiliate radio programs.