Ryan Smolar Email and Phone Number

Organizational Strategy and Leadership- Align the organization's overall vision, mission, and core values with the education, implementation, and advocacy plans.- Lead strategic initiatives to expand Thrive’s relationships, influence, and impact on key community challenges.- Ensure that effective systems are in place to track progress toward goals, evaluate program components, and report outcomes to the board, funders, and community stakeholders.- Collaborate with the Board of Directors to define and implement governance best practices.Fundraising and Development- Refine and enhance Thrive’s fundraising strategy, establishing short and long-term goals for individual donors, business support, and grant acquisition.- Partner with staff and board members to achieve the organization's fundraising objectives.- Manage and cultivate relationships with donors to maintain and grow a strong, loyal donor base.Communication and Advocacy- Serve as the primary spokesperson for Thrive Asheville, delivering strong verbal and written communications.- Lead outreach efforts to engage diverse audiences, including citizens, leaders, and partners, promoting Thrive’s educational and action-oriented initiatives.- Oversee the creation and distribution of communication materials that clearly convey Thrive's goals, challenges, and successes.Systems and Operations- Manage Thrive’s annual operating budget of $450K+.- Ensure that operational processes and procedures are in place to meet organizational goals and responsibilities efficiently.- Oversee systems and processes related to human resources, staff benefits, and payroll.People Development and Cultural Leadership- Hire, manage, and empower a diverse, high-performing team in alignment with the organization's mission and values.- Invest in talent development to build successors for key roles.- Create and implement policies and practices that foster diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.

The PlacemakingUS Network brings together placemakers from US cities and around the world. PlacemakingUS is a regional network organized in coordination with our global partner PlacemakingX and sister networks in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia, Canada and beyond.

Long Beach Fresh is a food policy council and local economic development agency and advocate serving the local food industry of Long Beach, California. We support local food "eaters," "feeders" and "seeders" with innovative programs, communications, and events that are designed to create opportunities for local food to reach more people.

Smolarcorp is an award-winning community development agency based in Southern California. We build systems for community vitality, based on the needs and actions of people in real life. We work with local governments, business districts, convention and visitor bureaus, school districts, colleges, and nonprofits in Strategy, Program Design, Marketing, Budgeting, Team Management, Visioning, and Implementation. We also provide management support for business districts and nonprofits.

- Direct the Downtown BID's event programming, public-privatepartnerships, economic development, strategy, management,organizational development and community relations.- Created and managed dozens of events, programs, marketing campaigns and technology initiatives including Savor Santa Ana, the historic Santa Ana Street Breakfast and production oversight of the monthly Artwalk event.- Received an International Downtown Award for Marketing & Communication and Vice Chaired an IDA Top Research Council