2024 CSG National Officers impart importance of communication, compromise with constituents, peers in demonstrating effective leadership
By Trey Delida, Cody Porter and Lexington Souers
Rep. Kevin Ryan
Connecticut | Assistant Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore
Rep. Kevin Ryan moved with his family to Connecticut at age 6. What followed a “typical childhood” is an extraordinary career in public service. Ryan, the 2024 CSG National Chair, has served Connecticut as a legislator for more than 30 years, in addition to years of experience working with his community’s board of education, Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus and other local organizations.
Throughout his long career in public service, Ryan pulled from lessons he learned from his father, who was a local businessman. His father, he said, was a hard worker who valued customer service and fiscal responsibility; however, his parents were conscious of their spending, both in business and at home. Growing up with a father who ran his own business cemented the importance of small businesses for Ryan.
“It reflects in a lot of my decisions,” Ryan said. “I keep in mind the small business owner since that’s who I’m most familiar with, and really recognizing a lot of people consider business owners to be honest. A lot of them are very hardworking individuals who are just trying to be able to pay their bills and take care of their families.”
Ryan joined the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1992 with encouragement from members of the community. His decision was supported by the experience he gained on both the local board of education and in speaking with legislators about issues facing a health care clinic where he worked.
Working in his community allowed Ryan to bring a focus of constituent service to his role in the statehouse. These professional experiences helped Ryan see how the state affected patients’ and students’ lives at the local level.
In his more than 30 years in office, Ryan said that his focus on constituents hasn’t changed. He was appointed assistant deputy speaker pro tempore in 2023, allowing him to continue his focus on constituents in a new leadership role. During that time, what has changed is the avenues of communication. Social media created a new avenue to bring issues and awareness to a new audience. Additionally, the rise of the internet has allowed constituents to connect with the legislative process more.
In his more than 30 years in office, Ryan said that his focus on constituents hasn’t changed. He was appointed assistant deputy speaker pro tempore in 2023, allowing him to continue his focus on constituents in a new leadership role. During that time, what has changed is the avenues of communication. Social media created a new avenue to bring issues and awareness to a new audience. Additionally, the rise of the internet has allowed constituents to connect with the legislative process more.
“As time has gone on, we’ve been able to allow people to watch our committee meetings, procedures and be in the House chamber online,” Ryan said. “They could watch it directly, where before they’d have to wait until it came out in the paper. To have gone on to be able to be streamed on a computer, it’s a lot more accessible now. They can see how government works on a day-to-day basis and they can actually witness the processes that bring laws about for them.”
This communication also transfers to his work with other legislators. Listening to other legislators and remaining flexible are two things Ryan said are key to success in the Legislature.
“I think, at least in Connecticut, we’ve always been pretty good at being able to effectively come out with a compromise,” Ryan said. “It’s very rare when that doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, it can’t happen 100% of the time. There are just some issues where there’s either one way to do it or another. But, more often than not, we’re easily able to come up with something that’s kind of midstream and that comes from a lot of conversations.”
On that note, Ryan suggested new legislators adopt an open-minded viewpoint and “recognize that other people come from different types of backgrounds and have different experiences that lead them to what they believe in.” He added that listening and respect for others should be incorporated in every decision.
Outside of the statehouse, Ryan is a professor of physics at the University of New Haven. He said he doesn’t think his students know he’s a legislator and that he wants to keep them focused on the classroom. Teaching has further shown him the importance of patience and listening to students to better answer their questions.
One example of listening came from a young constituent and her family. In 2012, Connecticut legislators legalized medical marijuana. However, in 2016, one of Ryan’s constituents explained how their minor child was excluded from use, causing the family to travel to Maine to receive care.
“When we talk about an issue that limits very few people in the state, this was definitely one,” Ryan said. “We had to make people aware of how important it was to this family and how important it was for the health of this child — and we were able to do that. Eventually, the bill passed. It was legalized for people — young people — so those who need or want to have access to medical marijuana can have it.”
This is just one example of a small issue that still needed constituent support. Ryan said it’s important to make people aware of how important some small actions are to members of the community.
During his time in office, Ryan said many issues have come from his constituents or from areas of community concern. For example, he is focused on accessible health care, and providing affordable living conditions and transportation in the more rural, eastern Connecticut district he represents.
“Unfortunately, we don’t get to choose the issues we are passionate about because people — your constituents — sometimes bring you issues that are important to them,” Ryan said. “[Those issues] then become important to you because you have to deal with problems that these people have. You have to kind of do what you can to remedy them.”
Ryan began his involvement with CSG leadership in 2022 as CSG National Vice Chair. He was a 2008 CSG Henry Toll Fellow and 2009 graduate of the CSG East Robert J. Thompson Eastern
Leadership Academy. This year, Ryan will serve as CSG National Chair. In the year ahead, he looks forward to discussing regional issues at a national level.
“I think it’s interesting to compare the issues that are important in Connecticut with what kind of issues are important across the country,” Ryan said. “While there’s a lot of commonalities, it’s still always interesting to find what particular issue is more important in one region than in another. I’m just looking forward to working with the regions to see what’s important to them and what we can do to help them to deal with their issues.”
Among the areas of importance for Ryan was highlighting the unique mission of CSG to connect leaders across the country.
“I think it’s important that nobody lives in a bubble,” Ryan said. “We have to be able to have those streams of communication between different entities in different states. It’s important that we all work together effectively because it not only helps you, but it helps the country as a whole.”
Check out the profiles of other 2024 CSG Leadership members, including: