Kelly Ryan is a Fellow with the FB Heron Foundation working to advance Heron’s mission of helping people and communities help themselves.  For nearly 20 years, she was CEO of Incourage – an organization that is nationally recognized as an innovative place-based philanthropy – in realizing its simple yet bold vision of a community that works well for all people. To advance an inclusive and sustainable economy in its rural central Wisconsin home, Incourage developed a holistic approach that is values-led and user-centered. As CEO, Kelly led Incourage in its commitment to align all forms of capital with organizational values and mission congruence, placing primary value on human potential.

Named one of 50 most influential leaders in the nonprofit sector by the NonProfit Times and a Rural Innovator by the White House, Ms. Ryan frequently speaks and writes about the opportunity for philanthropy at the intersection of people, place and prosperity. Kelly is an Aspen Institute Scholar. She also serves on the National Fund for Workforce Solutions Partners Council, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Chancellor’s Advisory Council, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation – Governor’s Committee on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and served on the Hitachi Foundation Board of Directors.