Ryan Shorthouse is the Founder and Chief Executive of Bright Blue. He founded the organisation in 2010. Ryan is an expert on education and social policy and a political commentator. He regularly appears on national TV and radio, and provides frequent analysis for national newspapers and magazines.

Ryan was previously a Research Fellow for the think tank the Social Market Foundation and was part of the team that won Prospect Magazine’s Think Tank of the Year in 2012. Prior to 2010, he was a researcher for Rt Hon David Willetts MP when he was Shadow Education Secretary.

Ryan is a Visiting Fellow of King’s College London. He is a trustee of the Young Women’s Trust, and was previously a trustee for the Family and Childcare Trust and the Daycare Trust. He sits on the advisory council of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the University of Bath Institute for Policy Research. He is a mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation and a governor of a new secondary school in East London.