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It is with great pleasure that we introduce Ryan Plourde as the Director of Soccer Without Borders in Colorado. Ryan joins the program after completing three years of Peace Corps service in Ethiopia, where he oversaw the implementation of the Grassroot Soccer HIV/AIDS prevention program, the Peace Corps' Camp GLOW program, and the distribution of more than 22,000 One World Futbols across 5 regions. Ryan's understanding of East Africa will undoubtedly serve him well in Greeley, where many refugee families and participants are from Somalia.
Prior to his time in East Africa, Ryan worked in the professional sports arena as a Senior Account Executive for the Arizona Diamondbacks and a Sales Representative for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. A University of Redlands graduate with a major in Business Administration, Ryan will put his program and business development skills to work as SWB Greeley's first-ever full-time Director.
SWB Greeley was established in 2011 in partnership with the W-League team the Colorado Force. Recognizing a need and demand for positive, engaging, and inclusive programming for refugee youth in Greeley, the Force and SWB collaborated to implement after-school programming for middle school boys and girls. The largely volunteer-led effort was a resounding success, quickly leading to questions of how to expand programming throughout the full year and across a wider range of ages.
The program grew cautiously and steadily during its first three years with generous support from the Daniels Fund, OtterCares Foundation, Whole Foods, Dicks Sporting Goods, and the Colorado Storm. The investment in full-time local leadership is a critical next step to program sustainability; we could not ask for a better fit than Ryan to lead SWB Greeley into this next phase of growth!
Ryan can be reached at ryan@soccerwithoutborders.org.
