Pro-Growth Progressive Idea: Creating entrepreneurship training programs to help small businesses grow in Santa Cruz

Ryan is a member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the two-time former Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz.  He is also an entrepreneur, author, and educator. He is the host of the NewDEAL’s “An Honorable Profession” podcast. He was the cofounder of NextSpace Coworking + Innovation (now owned by Pacific Workplaces), a lecturer on law and government at UC Santa Cruz, and co-author of The Rise of the Naked Economy – How to Benefit from the Changing Workplace and wrote Etched in Stone – Enduring Words from our National Monuments. Ryan was selected by the Aspen Institute to be a Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership as one of “the nation’s most promising young elected officials.”

On the Board of Supervisors, Ryan has created incentives to support affordable workforce housing, led the expansion of the public safety and treatment programs, successfully advocated suing oil and gas companies for carbon emissions, and established a Thrive by Three Fund to support families’ health and educational outcomes.