Center for Reproductive Rights Announces Richard Ryan as New Chief Operating Officer
Ryan brings nearly 20 years of non-profit, operations, and financial management experience to the organization
(PRESS RELEASE) Richard Ryan has joined the Center for Reproductive Rights as the organization’s new Chief Operating Officer. Ryan has most recently served as Senior Vice President of Finance &, Administration and Chief Financial Officer at the Rainforest Alliance.
With more than 18 years of nonprofit finance and administration leadership, Ryan brings an impressive background in financial management and staff development to the Center. At the Rainforest Alliance, he was responsible for finance and accounting, compliance, global office administration, contract and grant administration, information technology and knowledge management, and employee safety and security. During his tenure, the Rainforest Alliance grew in budget size from $35M to $54M and significantly expanded its global offices to 15 countries and a global staff of over 400.
As Chief Operating Officer, Ryan will serve as a member of the Center’s executive management team and oversee the Center’s financial and administrative operations, including information technology, human resources, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic and annual Planning.
“Richard Ryan arrives at the Center for Reproductive Rights with a wealth of expertise in strengthening non-profit organizations and fostering sustainable growth to meet their future challenges and opportunities,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “He will be instrumental in propelling forward the Center’s vital work defending human rights around the globe.”
The Center’s game changing litigation and advocacy work, combined with its unparalleled expertise in the use of constitutional, international, and comparative human rights law, have transformed how reproductive rights are understood by courts, governments, and human rights bodies. It has played a key role in securing legal victories in the U.S., Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe on issues including access to life-saving obstetrics care, contraception, safe abortion services, and comprehensive sexuality information, as well as the prevention of forced sterilization, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. It has brought groundbreaking cases before national courts, U.N. Committees, and regional human rights bodies, and has built the legal capacity of women’s rights advocates in over 55 countries.
“I’m honored to join an organization that is so well-respected across the globe and working on issues so critical to the lives of millions of women around the world,” said Richard Ryan, Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “I look forward to bringing my experience to the Center’s dedicated and passionate team and building on the organization’s successes in the U.S. and abroad.”
Ryan was previously Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at The Trustees of Reservations, a Massachusetts-based land and historic conservation organization, Chief Operating Officer of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, where in addition to his finance and administration responsibilities he oversaw fundraising and communications, and Regional Finance Director of The Nature Conservancy. Prior to his transition to the nonprofit sector in 1996 Richard worked in banking in New York City and Boston.
Ryan graduated from Salem State College with a degree in Business Administration.
