1. Ryan Coonerty is an American politician, businessman, professor, and author who served as the Third District Supervisor for California's Santa Cruz County, representing western portions of the county including Santa Cruz, Bonny Doon, and Davenport.
Ryan Coonerty is the author of Etched in Stone: Enduring Words From Our Nation's Monuments, published by the National Geographic Society and co-author of The Rise of the Naked Economy - How to Benefit from the Changing Workplace, published by Macmillan-Palgrave.
Ryan Coonerty is the cohost of An Honorable Profession, a NewDEAL Leaders' podcast profiling emerging leaders in the Democratic Party, including Pete Buttigieg, Adrian Fontes and Mallory McMorrow.
Ryan Coonerty graduated from Santa Cruz's public school system and attended the University of Oregon, where he graduated from the Honors College.
Ryan Coonerty received a master's degree from the London School of Economics and a JD degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Ryan Coonerty served as an outreach coordinator for Assemblyman Fred Keeley.
Ryan Coonerty has been involved in community activities including serving on the board of the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Dientes Community Dental Care, Santa Cruz Education Foundation, and the Locally Owned Business Alliance.
Ryan Coonerty began his teaching career at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003 as a lecturer in the Legal Studies department where he has taught several courses on democracy and constitutional law.
Additionally, Ryan Coonerty is a frequent visiting instructor at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University, Monterey Bay.
Ryan Coonerty was selected to be a fellow for the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement in 2021.
In 2004 and again in 2008, Ryan Coonerty was elected to four-year terms on the Santa Cruz City Council, finishing first in a field of 10 candidates in 2008.
Ryan Coonerty additionally served as mayor twice during his time on the city council, in 2008 and 2011.
Ryan Coonerty coauthored the Clean Oceans, Rivers and Beaches initiative which passed as an initiative in the November 2008 election.
Ryan Coonerty served a second one-year term as mayor in 2011.
Ryan Coonerty additionally played a key role in 2012 in recruiting the NBA G-League Santa Cruz Warriors to Santa Cruz.
Some of Ryan Coonerty's efforts have received national attention, including the creation of an Ayuda Linea for day laborers to report incidents of abuse, and a policy to invest part of the City's reserve funds in local financial institutions, an effort praised by the National Center for Local Sustainability.
Ryan Coonerty founded Santa Cruz NEXT, a non-partisan organization dedicated to engaging the next generation of Santa Cruz in the civic life of the community.
In June 2015, Ryan Coonerty wrote a letter subsequently approved by the Board of Supervisors requesting the county withdraw investments from banks that have pleaded guilty to committing felonies, an initiative that won praise from Robert Reich.
Ryan Coonerty led the effort to establish a local Nurse-Family Partnership Program and a Thrive by Three Fund to support families' health and educational outcomes.
Ryan Coonerty helped manage the response and recovery efforts surrounding the CZU Fire.
In 2019, Ryan Coonerty gave a TEDx talk about finding hope in local government.