Ryan Kelsey, Ed.D.

Dr. Ryan Kelsey is Chief Advisor to the President & CEO at Achieving the Dream, where he works to strengthen ATD’s internal capacity as an organization and its outreach to its network of colleges through strategic planning, the design of new services, and the scaling of key initiatives across the network.
Ryan comes to ATD from the Helmsley Charitable Trust where he developed and managed a $45 million grant portfolio focused on U.S. higher education, STEM learning, K-12 teacher preparation, and educational technology. As part of his work, Ryan convened and supported experts on effective educational practices aimed at systemic improvement and formed networks of colleges and universities committed to campus-wide transformation, often with regional workforce and foundation partners. Many of these investments supported work at America’s community colleges, including important ATD work with colleges in integrated planning and advising, labor marker alignment, and improving adjunct faculty engagement.

Before he joined Helmsley, Ryan spent more than a decade as one of the directors of the Columbia University Center for New Media Teaching and Learning. He co-led the Center’s strategic planning and new programs and its research and evaluation efforts advising staff on evaluation methods and leading workshops for university faculty. He taught graduate courses in educational technology and instructional design at Teachers College and at New York University as well as introductory undergraduate science at Columbia.

Ryan earned an Ed.D. and M.A. in Communication and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.S. in Biology from Santa Clara University.