Ryan has been a child welfare advocate, consultant, and author with lived experiences from Arizona’s foster care system and as an adoptee from his home country of Ukraine. While in Arizona, Ryan has previously served as President and Vice President of the Arizona Department of Child Safety’s (DCS) Youth Empowerment Council, where he met with DCS leadership and young people with lived experiences to improve DCS' policies, advocate for state-level legislation, and bring many need changes to Arizona's child welfare system. He went on to be appointed and served as a Commissioner on the City of Phoenix Youth and Education Commission and the Governor's Council on Child Safety and Family Empowerment. Ryan continues to devote his professional and lived experiences from the U.S. foster care system in various ways as a delegate with the National Foster Youth Institute, a federal National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) reviewer with the U.S. Children’s Bureau, spokesperson with AdoptUSKids, and a Young Adult Consultant with the U.S. Children's Bureau. Ryan is pursuing a degree in Political Science as a Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy and AFFCF Scholar. He plans to continue his studies to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Public Policy with a concentration on social service delivery. In his free time, he loves traveling, spending time with family and friends, and roller-skating.