Director, Youth First Initiative
Liz Ryan is a campaign strategist and youth justice expert who directs the Youth First Initiative, a national advocacy campaign to end the incarceration of youth in youth prisons and direct resources towards effective community-based programs for youth. Ryan is the founder and former CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), which spearheads national efforts to end the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth in the adult criminal justice system.
Ryan has worked on many campaigns, including the Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign (Act4JJ) to overhaul the main federal law on youth justice, the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), and the No More Oak Hills campaign to successfully close the notorious Oak Hill Youth Detention Center for Washington D.C.’s youth. She has served in leadership roles with the National Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention coalition (NJJDPC), the National Girls Initiative (NGI), the Justice Policy Network, and the Youth Advocate Program’s Policy Center. She previously worked at the Youth Law Center, the Children’s Defense Fund, the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, and in several management, policy, and legislative positions for U.S. Senator Thomas R. Carper during his terms as Governor of Delaware and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ryan holds a B.A. from Dickinson College and an M.A. from The George Washington University.