Senior Partnership Director
After graduating with a B.A. in History from Vassar College, Ryan began his career in education by traveling to Chile as a volunteer English teacher through a joint initiative of Chilean Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Programme-Chile to improve English language learning and pedagogy in public schools throughout the country. After teaching for 1.5 years, Ryan was hired by the program in an administrative capacity, where he oversaw the recruitment, admissions, training, support, and evaluation processes. After spending five years teaching and working in Chile, Ryan moved back to the United States to join City Year Seattle, a national non-profit committed to dropout prevention, as Program Manager at Denny International Middle School. There, he coordinated a team of AmeriCorps Members, partnering with the school to provide academic, behavioral, and attendance interventions, whole-school climate initiatives and afterschool programming.
By joining Equal Opportunity Schools, Ryan continues his career in providing supports and resources to students, teachers, and administrators in the public school system. He is passionate about the power of education to empower young people of all backgrounds to reach their full potential and achieve their goals, but also has seen students disengage from learning due to systemic barriers. With Equal Opportunity Schools, he is looking forward to helping schools expand the opportunities for underrepresented students to access rigorous coursework. In particular, he is motivated by the opportunity to increase student voice and agency in their educational journey.