About Ryan A. Bunch
President & Founder

I am a writer, administrator, and place-keeper/maker who is deeply passionate about creative communities, public engagement, events, urban design, and sustainable, human-centered planning and implementation. 
As a poet, storyteller, and community advocate with a background in health and human services and public policy, I thrive in working alongside residents, artists, and experts to collaborate and form partnerships that innovate creative solutions to social and civic challenges. 
Email me.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

President & Founder → Midcoast | OHMI Midcoast Industrial Workshop, Toledo, OH, 2022–Present

Studio Director → Toledo Design Collective, Toledo, OH, 2024–Present (organizational leadership, fundraising, program & project development)
Sr. Director, Outreach & Advocacy → United Way of Greater Toledo, Toledo, OH, 2022–2023 (marketing, communications, public policy)
Director of Community Initiatives → The Arts Commission, Toledo, OH, 2010–2022 (creative placemaking, programs, marketing)
Music Editor → Toledo.com, Toledo, OH, 2009–2016 (writer, editor, interviewer, website user experience)
Arts & Entertainment Editor → Toledo City Paper & Ann Arbor Current (Adams Street Publishing), Toledo, OH, 2005–2008 (writer, editor, interviewer, public programs)
Administrative Support → Robbins Center for Cross-Cultural Communication (Warren Robbins, Founding Director Emeritus, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art), Washington DC, 2004

Fido Buckminster Maxximilian III, Chief Inspiration Officer / Global Officer, Operational Development - Business Operation Yields (G.O.O.D-B.O.Y)

Community Involvement

  • Public Policy Committee (2022-Present) - Connect residents to education about public policy and community development, prioritize organizational policy support. Visit RT

  • Committee Member (2020-Present) - Support Toledo and Lucas County’s Immigrant and Refugee communities through the first city-county Certified Welcoming partnership in America. Visit Welcome TLC

  • Trustee, Outreach Committee (2019-2023) - Educate, engage, and connect the public to urban planning and design initiatives while advocating for more equitable and inclusive practices.
    Visit TDC

  • Play Committee (2021-2022) - Informed future City of Toledo land use plan (featuring Toledo Culture Trail framework I designed to connect organic creative corridors). Toledo Visit Forward Toledo

  • Mayoral Appointee, Community & Neighborhoods Committee (2019-2022) - Supported and advocated for increased resident voice in city services. Visit HRC

  • Trustee (2018-2019) - Chaired Centennial Committee for 100 year celebration for Toledo’s oldest African American Community Center. Visit FDCA

  • Inaugural Trustee, (2014-2015) - Established resident- and local business-driven neighborhood nonprofit with a self-sustaining events model to inform commercial corridor improvement. Visit VOA

  • Vice President, Strategic Planning Co-Chair (2012-2018) - Led strategic planning, resident advocacy, and planning initiatives for historically-significant downtown neighborhood. Read about Ryan Bunch, 419 Day Founder

  • Programs Committee (2012-2017) - Led public programming for salvaging and revitalizing one of Toledo’s last remaining historically significant neighborhood theaters. Read about Spoken Toledo Storytelling at Ohio Theatre

  • Co-Founder, Host (2012-2016) - Established Toledo’s first and longest-running microenterprise program where the public is invited to learn about and support community projects. Visit Toledo SOUP

“What I want for myself, I want for everyone.”

— Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones

Panels & Presentations

  • Americans for the Arts - National Conference, Artists at the Community Development Table, Executive Leadership Summit

  • Activate / Innovate - Moderator

  • Advocates for Ohio’s Future - Panelist

  • Arts Cleveland - Creative Workforce Fellowship Grants Panel

  • Bowling Green State University - Winter Wheat Writing Festival Workshop Lead

  • Heritage Ohio - Panelist

  • Knight Foundation - Panelist

  • Leadership Ohio - Moderator, Panelist

  • Lucas County MacArthur Safety Justice Challenge - Reviewer

  • Ohio Arts Council - ArtSTART Grants Panelist

  • Ohio Community Development Corporation Association - Annual Conference Committee & Panelist

  • Reinvest Toledo - Violence & Food Insecurity, Civic Engagement presenter

  • TEDxToledo - Featured Presenter

  • University of Toledo - Alumni Guest Panelist, Shapiro Honors Awards Keynote, Youth Summit Panel

Featured Readings, Literary Work & Art Exhibitions

  • ALLUVIUM - Poetry-Photography Visual Arts Exhibition

  • Human Poetry Machine - Co-creator, Interactive multimedia poetry-photography art experience

  • Lucas County Poet Laureate Program, Committee Facilitator

  • Ode to the Zip Code Poetry Contest, Co-Organizer, Committee

  • OHMI Poets & Writers Assembly Line, Featured Readers Series, Organizer

  • Spoken Storytelling Series, Co-founder, Host

  • Toledo Museum of Art - Guest Literary Event Curator, Story Lore: The Art of Narrative Poetry

  • Toledo Poetry Sidewalks Public Art Program, Co-Creator

  • Toledo School for the Artists - Featured Guest Artist

  • Zanesville Art Museum - 77th Ohio Annual Exhibition Juried Selection

Awards & Certificates

  • 20 Under 40 Leadership Award, Toledo

  • Results-Based Accountability (in progress)

  • Safegrowth (CPTED 2)

  • Bridges Out of Poverty

  • Dale Carnegie