Ryan P. Keenan - Biography
Ryan Keenan is a devoted democracy promotion expert, experienced trainer, and savvy political analyst who specializes in training political parties, youth advocates, civil society organizations, and emerging women leaders. This includes designing advocacy and democracy promotion projects, conducting virtual and in-person skills development workshops, creating training and course curricula, and managing coaching and mentorship programs. Ryan is based out of Philadelphia, PA and has completed projects in Morocco, Algeria, Kenya, Zambia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Tunisia.
Ryan’s passion is working with young people who seek to make positive change in often challenging circumstances. His unique training and facilitation style focuses on fostering a deep connection with young activists by listening to and understanding their perspectives first, and then designing training sessions and workshops that pass on the skills and techniques that would be most effective in highlighting their respective skills and achieving their goals. Ryan has a keen eye for political talent and collaborates with emerging leaders to grow their careers through training and mentorship programs.
With over 15 years of experience working in the NGO sector, Ryan has learned how to turn this passion into effective and sustainable programing. Ryan’s approach to program design uses a collaborative process that balances donor priorities, organizational values, coalition building challenges, partner capacities, and political dynamics to identify the change that is possible and design a plan to get there.
At the core of Ryan’s expertise is a deep understanding of political processes and an analytic ability to break down complicated cultural and political dynamics. Ryan developed this capacity during his early career experience on the front lines of heated advocacy and political campaigns in the USA.
Previously, Ryan was stationed full time in North Africa with the National Democratic Institute, specializing in policy development for political parties. In that role, he advised Moroccan and Algerian parties on policy analysis, public opinion research, platform development, and advocacy and communications strategy. Ryan also managed an NDI project in Morocco that assisted Moroccan parties participate in the first ever nationally televised debates for the 2016 Parliamentary Elections.
Mr. Keenan has observed elections in Belarus, Egypt, Pakistan, Albania, and North Macedonia. Prior to his international experience, Ryan served as the Director of Outreach at the National Security Network, a Progressive nonprofit advocacy organization in Washington, DC. Ryan began his career working on multiple political campaigns, including President Biden’s 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination.
Mr. Keenan holds a Master’s degree in International Policy Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Dickinson College.
CandleLight Advocacy Origin Story
While completing an assignment in Morocco at the end of 2016, Ryan became increasingly concerned of the direction and tenor of the political process in the USA. Troubled with the anti-democratic tone and rhetoric, the direct attacks on norms and institutions, and increasing references to violence and chaos, Ryan decided to do something about it.
After returning from Morocco in 2017, Ryan took a step back to study the politcal landscape and identify the right space. This included dozens of meetings and consultations with candidates, activists, political party leaders, and concerned citizens. After a year of listening and learning, Ryan decided that the key to winning the political moment is helping direct the anger and energy of increasingly engaged young people from protests to sustained political engagement and constructive activism.
While the rise of authoritarian and anti-democratic forces was unnerving, the energy and courage of citizens to resist proved to be equally inspiring. People from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences pushed back. Protesting power abuses became the norm, voter turnout surged, hundreds of ordinary citizens joined the arena running for political office for the first time, and coalitions of strange bedfellows evolved leaning into what unites instead of what divides.
This energy was not limited to the shores of the United States. Similar movements were popping up all over the world. Citizens across the globe began to increasingly speak up against democratic backsliding and movements toward authoritarianism through protests and sophisticated political organizing.
While inspired by this energy, the biggest challenge Ryan identified was the ability to harness the energy into concrete achievements and sustained politcal engagement. Although protests are essential in democracies, they often run the risk of creating backlash. The most enthusiastic participants often burn out and grow disillusioned when the energy of the moment does not meet their expectations for immediate change. Enemies and adversaries often effectively manipulate the message and image of the protest to threaten other groups of citizens that, in principle, should be allies.
In 2018, Ryan created CandleLight Advocacy, with the mission to help rising young leaders channel the energy of the moment into practical and sustainable change. His aim was to use the political knowledge and training skills acquired through his career to help mentor and develop young activists grow into effective and ethical political leaders.
The name CandleLight was inspired by a painting by Ryan’s niece that she gave him as a gift, which depicted a candle shining brightly in the dark. One day, while looking at the painting sipping his morning coffee, Ryan saw this as the perfect symbol for his mission — to help grow the light that leads through dark times.