Ryan has worked in and formally studied politics and policy for twenty years. He has worked in Seattle Mayor Ed Murray's Office of Policy and Innovation since August 2014, where he is currently Deputy Director. Previous work in that office centered on government performance, technology policy, and arts and culture. Prior government experience also includes stints at the county and state levels.

  Immediately previous to the work with the City of Seattle, he completed a PhD in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This study focused on comparative and American politics, with a dissertation examining the impact of technological change on privacy and its regulation in liberal democratic countries. Prior to this, he competed a MA in international affairs and European politics at Sciences Po Paris, and was an undergraduate at the University of Washington, where he served as student body president in his final year.

Much of his interest in innovation stems from varied experience in these diverse educational settings and multiple levels of government, having observed the complex interaction between the cultures and structures that constrain action in any given institution.