Meet Ryan Ross, PhD

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Ross, Ph.D.

Dr. Ross, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Wow. This is a loaded question. The mathematics of my life says I should not be here. The unfortunate bias and inequity that exists within our society support a narrative that Black males are incapable of living a positive, pro-social, productive life. Society intentionally tells Black men that our voice doesn’t matter; there isn’t a table we are worthy to sit at, and that we are not even welcome in certain rooms. But GOD! I am so glad that “I am the master of my fate and captain of my soul.”

My childhood was not unique; I grew up like many people; the story is the lived experience of many. My childhood consisted of a home with six siblings, a single mother with a physically and verbally abusive boyfriend. He spent most of his time in jail or wreaking havoc in our home. With the challenges at home, I looked outward for support, love, and safety. I found it in the streets. In my neighborhood streets, I learned to hustle, fight, earn money for my family, get in trouble, and, most importantly, I had activated what I believed a safety net.

As an adult, I wouldn’t change my neighborhood or block relationships because this is where I learned about what it means to be a part of a village. The lessons and experiences within this village taught me the value of hard work and what it means to have grit. I learned about loyalty and the importance of taking care of those in your network, especially those who struggle caring for themselves.

Now there is no avoiding the truth. We made some bad choices as a result of functioning in a perpetual cycle of survival, but we also did a lot of good. We protected the elderly, shoveled their snow, bought Christmas presents, and food. However, the mid-’90s and the summer of violence helped me realize there had to be more. I realized my friends and my choices weren’t always positive, and it was time for great decisions and people. It was at this point; I realized I didn’t have to be a product of my environment; instead, I could become a manifestation of my vision. If I dreamed more prominent, I could accomplish anything.

Using the principles and value system (believe it or not) I learned in my neighborhood, I searched for a new normal that included positive additions to my village. I wanted structure, different experiences, and interactions that didn’t result in a jail sentence. I actively created relationships that filled my internal voids and replaced my anger with objectivity and empathy.

I set off on a journey that has resulted in lifelong friendships, new purpose, educational opportunities, and experiences that I could bring back to my neighborhood. I tapped into what I now call an actualized village. A village with mentors, sponsors, parents, friends, high expectations, and for the most part, this village all looked like me! That was a treat because I learned that TV shows like A Different World and the Cosby’s were not fiction; after all, there were prosperous and professional Black people. I also learned that not everyone who was White was a bad person. There were people from all walks of life who cared about people like me.

Lesson one: Every cub needs a village.

Lesson two: Relationships are key to success.

My new village and relationships created an opportunity to attend Mullen High School. Mullen is a private Catholic College Prep school that was a two hour RTD bus ride from my neighborhood. Every morning with my band of brothers from Park Hill and East Denver, we caught a bus at 5:30 a.m to make the 8:20 a.m School bell. This experience was interesting. I fell like I traded a tremendous academic and athletic experience to feel like a raisin in a bowl of milk and have my first direct exposure to racism. Again an experience I wouldn’t trade because I was learning about the world and how it would work.

My time at Mullen exposed me to inequity. It was a tale of two cities. My neighborhood school didn’t have chemistry labs, and books students could take home. The football team didn’t have real trainers, multiple jerseys, and access to charter buses. The parking lot was not full of 16-year-olds driving luxury vehicles. I realized that this new environment also provided me privilege, but what was I to do with it? As I prepared for college, everything I received, I shared with friends from my neighborhood. The service hours required to graduate and fulfill my scholarship obligations to the Byrne Foundation, which paid for me to attend Mullen, were done in my neighborhood with my community.

By 17, I had learned some guiding principles that still led my thinking today:

-We have a responsibility to pay it forward.

-We have to give back to the village that supports us, and it does not require being rich to be philanthropic.

-Information and those who hold it have a lot of power. Once you have the information, you should disperse it.

I left Colorado in 1998 to attend college. In May of 2002, I graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University. I returned to Denver and began my career in education with Denver Public Schools and then joined the Community college of Denver in 2003, where I served in several roles until 2016. My focus while at CCD was student access, equity, success, and college preparation. In the community, during that time, I worked with others to create the Kappa League leadership Development program. This program focused on leadership, service, and college preparation for high school males of color. In 2002 when we started the program, we served 15 young men from East high school. Today we serve over 130 kids grades 6-12 from the entire Denver Metro Area. In 2009, I was appointed Co-Chair of the Chamber Connect program by the Honorable Wellington E. Webb. I served in this capacity for three years while working at the Community College of Denver and working on my doctoral degree. I stepped down from the Co-Chair in 2011. The program was changed to a stand-alone nonprofit in 2014, and I was asked to return in 2015. After returning for one year and working with the organization’s first official President (and not simply a Co-Chair) Ed Wingfield, I became the 2nd President and CEO of The Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado, formally Chamber Connect in 2016.

When not serving the community through the Urban leadership foundation in my spare time, my professional work consists of serving students as an educator. I serve as the Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Equity, and Inclusion. Every day I work with Chancellor Former Lt. Governor the Honorable Joe Garcia and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Landon Pirius on improving the quality of all 137,000 students of the Colorado Community College System through unapologetic equity work, addressing equity gaps, and focusing on the student completing degrees, certificates, and their personal, educational goals.

The most meaningful and essential aspect of my life is being a father to two amazing children, Gavin (age 10) and Zoe (age 4). I have achieved many things in life, but none more meaningful than these two gifts from god. So far, my greatest lesson learned and advice to share is that we are designed to flex purpose and not power. A purpose-driven life is a fulfilled one.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has not been smooth. I would argue that it has been long, rough, and rugged; however, I wouldn’t change any of it. Challenges, in my life, have surfaced in the form of failure, disappointment, rejection, depression, and tragedy. I have experienced poverty, marginalization, made mistakes that almost jeopardized my freedom, and even my life. I have experienced the subtle and overt bias of being the only young person in the room and the only Black person in the room. All of these struggles taught me more about who I am. I have learned to be authentic and vulnerable. I have learned how to manifest courage while honoring my fear and anxiety.

Specifically, one of the greatest struggles along the way has been dealing with what I call violators of the village. These are people who are in your village, who hold a position of trust but seek to hold you back with deficit-based actions and conversation. These folks are etched into my memory like a tattoo! I will never forget the middle school teacher who told me, “Never to get hurt in Football,” because I wasn’t smart enough to do anything else. The parents in high school who didn’t want their child, my schoolmate, to have a Black person riding in their car or coming into their neighborhood. The family member who said getting a doctoral degree was a pipe dream! One would think that with all that I experienced, these types of things would mean nothing, but it wasn’t the case. I was devastated early on. These interactions made me feel inadequate, question my value, my identity, my voice, and even my place. I worked hard to find my voice, quiet the static, and not succumb to the hypocrisy of the violators of the village. It was in these moments I had to lean on the right support system within the village to remind me of my greatness, of my Black Excellence. The silent struggles are often the greatest ones. I believe the birthplace of mental health challenges for some people are the silent struggles, but like poverty and educational underachievement, they are curable conditions.

We’d love to hear more about your organization.
The Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado is unique in a city like Colorado. We provide leadership training, professional development, personal and professional actualization experiences for emerging and arriving African American leaders, and other leaders of color. We are creating a leadership pipeline in Colorado that will ultimately ensure Colorado is an excellent place for everyone to eat, work, play, and thrive.

Since 2007, we have provided professional development and leadership training to over 350 emerging and arriving leaders of color. We have CEOs, business owners, educators, and elected officials as a part of our ranks. We run a cohort of 30-35 fellow each year from February to November, with an application process beginning in October each year.

We specialize in training in the areas of

-Leadership

-Politics

-Business

-Philanthropy

We believe creating a safe space for professionals to learn, grow, and develop while also gaining a broader understanding of the state is of paramount importance. We want to ensure professionals are ready to serve, lead, and diversify NPO’s, boards, commissions, and board rooms.

Servant leadership is the core of our belief system; to date, the Urban leadership Foundation has completed over 30 community-facing service projects. The projects range from building school libraries and nonprofit career clothing to boutiques to feeding over 1000 folks in need and conducting HBCU trips for students in the Denver Metropolitan area. We believe diversity is the start, but equity and a collective sense of belonging is the outcome.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I believe the proudest moment of my career was walking across the stage to receive my doctoral degree. It symbolizes completion, persistence, resilience, and proves so many people wrong. That day was special for not only me but my family and community. My son saw the expectation, not the exception. My family and my community were able to celebrate because this was a collective accomplishment. I went to class and did the work, but all contributed countless hours of sacrifice and reassurance. In 2012, when I received my doctoral degree of the roughly 50,000 Ph.D. earners that year, only 5.4% were African American. This was a joyous moment, it meant so much to so many, and was one of the ways I have manifested a piece of my vision.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1550 Larimer st #518
• Website: www.ulfcolorado.org
• Phone: 303-558-1050
• Email: ryan.ross@ulfcolorado.org
• Instagram: @ulfcolorado
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ulfcolorado/

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