Ryan works across strategic planning, business planning, organizational review, and financial analysis at AEA, helping cultural institutions clarify their purpose, strengthen their operating models, and plan for long-term sustainability. He has contributed to projects for Wellcome Collection, Qatar Museums, both the National Museum and National Library of Ireland, the Hartwig Art Foundation, the Royal Drawing School, the Art Mill Museum.

Before joining AEA, Ryan was an attorney at a leading global law firm, advising large institutional investors on regulatory and compliance matters, and not-for-profit organizations on governance. He has also worked extensively with libraries, archives, and special collections at the universities of Yale, Oxford, and Cambridge, and at the Boston Athenaeum, undertaking curatorial, exhibition, acquisition, and collections-management work.

Ryan is especially interested in questions of institutional purpose, the role and value of collections, and how cultural organizations can align their ambitions, resources, and operating models to achieve long-term financial sustainability. He has a particular interest in museums, libraries, and archives, and in helping collections-based institutions articulate their public value while ensuring that their collections remain relevant, accessible, and central to organizational decision-making.

Ryan holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.St. in Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Toronto, where he graduated at the top of his degree. Ryan has been elected to both the Grolier Club of New York and the Association Internationale de Bibliophilie in Paris in recognition of his engagement with rare books and special collections.