Ryan Ginard, CFRE, is a civic connector and fundraiser with more than fifteen years of experience in government, higher education, nonprofits, and organized philanthropy, leveraging more than $2.5 billion in infrastructure funding and directly raising over $15 million for charities. He currently lives in the growing tech hub of Austin, Texas, where he works at the University of Texas at Austin to identify individual donors with an interest in making major gifts to Texas Computer Science in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
Ryan’s career in organized philanthropy has seen him lead dedicated efforts in civic engagement, public policy, operations, and fundraising at a $1 billion endowed Community Foundation, a regional association of grantmakers, and most recently as chief of staff for a $185 million philanthropic program across early education and charitable giving, impacting more than nine million students and twenty-two thousand schools across twenty countries, including the top ten school districts in the US.
Ryan moved to the United States from Brisbane, Australia, where he spent five years as a policy and media adviser in the federal government on the portfolios of financial services, industry, and innovation. An active writer and thinker about future directions in philanthropy, Ryan has had his work highlighted in numerous national publications and has been a speaker at internationally renowned conferences such as the Public Relations Society of America’s International Conference (PRSA ICON), Social Media Week, and South by Southwest (SXSW), on themes focused on civic technology and immersive storytelling.
