Ryan Palmer

Ryan Palmer

Horning Family Foundation

Executive Director

Ryan Palmer (she/her) is Executive Director of the Horning Family Foundation in Washington, DC. Her career has spanned the nonprofit, philanthropic, business, and government sectors, with a focus on organizing people and resources in service of the liberation and self-determination of Black people and Black communities. 

Ryan was most recently Director of DC Community Initiatives at the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation. In this role, she led the design, development, execution, and management of the Clark Foundation’s local philanthropic investment strategy, including the $100 million Parent-Child Health Initiative, a comprehensive initiative that coupled funding with intentional coalition-building to improve outcomes for pregnant and birthing people, their children, and their families in DC. 

Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law.