A nationally respected civil rights lawyer, Ryan is president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (2015-present). Prior to leading the Institute, Ryan served as the deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc., where he worked for more than a decade (2003-2015). Ryan began his legal career as a litigation associate at the New York law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP (2001-03). As an undergraduate student, Ryan was nominated for the Rhodes scholarship and earned academic and athletic All-American and hall of fame honors as a football player. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Colorado College in 2011.