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Biography
Jonathan De Caro is a student at Boston College, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a concentration in AI applications to biotechnology and healthcare. Born and raised in the small town of Moodus, Connecticut by Brazilian immigrants, Jonathan has become a nationally recognized advocate for health equity, youth leadership, and social innovation.
He has been honored as a Prudential Emerging Visionary, 2025 Coca-Cola Scholar, Ashoka Young Changemaker, and one of America’s Top 100 Students by Disney. Jonathan is the founder of One Loan Fund, a public charity that advances opportunity for women and children through grassroots economic initiatives. He also served as the youngest Global Goals Ambassador in the history of the United Nations, where he championed inclusive approaches to global health.
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Connecticut & Boston
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My Story
Growing up in Brazil, my family’s home was always just a street corner away from a favela. On our weekly drives to the market, I would peer out of my grandma’s car window and see a world divided—crumbling slums stacked upon each other gave way to pristine mansions with towering fences and glistening fountains. Walls separated millions who couldn't afford healthcare from those who could. It was there, in those stark contrasts, where I became invested in inequality and access to healthcare from a young age.
When my family immigrated to the United States, we settled in Moodus, Connecticut—a rural town that exposed me to a different but equally devastating form of poverty. Here, I saw families forced to choose between paying for prescriptions or putting food on the table. I watched seniors delay critical surgeries because they simply couldn’t afford them. I realized that, whether in the favelas of Brazil or the farmlands of Connecticut, healthcare was a privilege—not a right.
These experiences shaped me. They opened my eyes to the reality that healthcare—especially for those society too often ignores. But more than that, they ignited a fire in me—a relentless drive to challenge this injustice, to fight for those left behind in our healthcare system.
I knew that vulnerable people needed someone to fight for them and that's exactly what I've set out to do.
My Work
I haven't waited to create change—I have a history of being a difference-maker in my community.
Returning to Brazil over the summer, I pored over data, studied maps, and, most importantly, spoke with women living in poverty in rural communities. I saw firsthand that their struggles weren’t due to a lack of hard work but rather a deeply flawed and underdeveloped welfare system that kept them trapped. I treated these women like family—calling them, listening to their stories, and welcoming them into my home. Through these connections, I realized how systemic barriers kept them in poverty, left them without healthcare, and made their families more vulnerable to illness. When I returned home, I knew I couldn’t stay silent—I had to take action.
That's when I came up with One Loan Fund, a financial platform that provides microloans to unbanked rural women in Latin America, with the goal of fostering better access to vaccines, healthcare, and sustainable financial security. With a team of 30+ other youth changemakers, we've helped more than 300 women gain access to economic and healthcare resources.
I learned that millions could benefit from my voice and advocacy, which is why I fought to bring my ideas to the United Nations. There, I was appointed the youngest UN Global Goals Ambassador in history. At the UN, I advocated for Latino and Hispanic healthcare needs globally, fighting for a world where more people have access to sustainable healthcare infrastructure and quality care by 2030. I worked alongside UN policymakers and legislators to edit and push forward impactful resolutions.
I didn’t just fight globally—I fought right here at home. After hearing the stories of Latinos in my community who couldn’t access healthcare, I went to my state’s capital to urge legislators to vote against harmful policies that would reduce funding for nurses in underserved areas. But high-level health legislators didn’t necessarily take a teenager seriously when it came to policymaking, dismissing me with the notion that I should “wait until I’m older,” that “someone else will take care of it,” and that “I can’t make change at my young age.”
Regardless, I pushed forward in my mission to make my community healthier. I refused to be complacent. I worked with other youth leaders to launch the first advocacy group of its kind—the Connecticut Public Health Youth Advisory Board—giving young people across the state the opportunity to write letters, testify, and make their voices heard on health policy.
For my work, I was named a Prudential Emerging Visionary, Disney Dreamer, and Coca-Cola Scholar.
My experiences have taught me that so many more people—patients and marginalized communities alike—need my passion and advocacy. As a clinician on the ground, I know I can create an even greater impact.
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