Biography
Ryan joined the North East Local Enterprise Partnership in September 2015, on a secondment from his position as Assistant Headteacher and Director of Applied Learning at St Joseph's Catholic Academy in South Tyneside. Ryan is currently leading the national pilot of the Gatsby Foundation 'Good Career Guidance' benchmarks, working with Professor Sir John Holman, schools and colleges across the country, as well as a number of employers. In his previous role, Ryan led the academy's national specialisms in applied vocational education and innovation from 2007. He was appointed as National Lead Practitioner for Applied Learning and Vocational Training in 2008/9 for the SSAT, where he worked to develop the national careers, work related learning and enterprise agenda. In 2010, Ryan was awarded the 'Sinnott Fellowship' in recognition of his innovative work with the Prime Minister's Talent and Enterprise Taskforce, engaging employers in education and establishing an 'outward-facing' culture that encouraged mutually beneficial and sustainable partnership working. In 2012, the SSAT recognised Ryan’s work in applied learning as ‘transforming and leading’. In March 2017, in recognition of his work in leading the national pilot into careers education (liaising with DfE, Ministerial Teams, and a range of national and regional organisations), Ryan was recognised as ‘UK Career Educator of the Year’ by the Careers Development Institute.