Bio:
Ryan is driven toward understanding and exploring social justice issues. A proud San Diego City College graduate, Ryan has a background in peace and conflict studies and critical pedagogy and lived abroad in Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, and Thailand.
Ryan thrives on building and working on small teams. He has co-founded an industrial arts collective and maker space, did research and writing for a sustainability report presented to Congress, and has been an integral part of a research project and documentary film on Charles Mingus, where he once had the ridiculous privilege of sitting behind the camera for an interview with Buddy Collette. Ryan is passionate about food and has a storied adventure in the food industry as well. He has worked and cooked alongside several James Beard Award–winning chefs. He also led a team that did monthly pop-up dinners highlighting local foodways of the South. Ryan spent the last five years supporting sustainability and agricultural research and recently moved back to the West Coast from North Carolina out of the immense frustration of not being able to watch the sunset over the ocean.
In his personal life, Ryan’s living style is a full jungle–100 roommates, all plants. He prefers short runs and long walks, is multilingual, and is constantly looking for the place where the pavement ends and gravel begins, exploring trails by bike and water by paddle board. You can find him handstand photobombing influencers and cooking big meals for friends, family, and sometimes strangers.
