Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan 

Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan was first elected to the Providence City Council in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018 and 2022. She represents Ward Five, which encompasses the Elmhurst, Mount Pleasant, and Manton neighborhoods. Councilwoman Ryan currently serves as Chairwoman of the Committee on Finance and as a Commissioner of the Board of Investments. She is also a member of the Retirement Board and the Board of Contract and Supply.

Councilwoman Ryan’s legislative priorities include fiscal responsibility, economic development, tax reform, and environmental stewardship. She also works to improve residents’ quality of life through initiatives focused on community policing, public education, housing, parks and recreation, safe streets, and community engagement.

During her tenure, Councilwoman Ryan drafted and secured passage of the historic Affordable Housing Bond ordinance, which capitalized the Affordable Housing Trust Fund with $26 million and helped create or preserve approximately 1,600 homes. She also successfully advocated for state funding to rebuild Providence’s public schools.

Councilwoman Ryan introduced and led the successful passage of the landmark Providence Plastic Bag Reduction Act, which the City Council approved on Earth Day in 2019. She also led the Council’s initiative to modernize and reform the City’s Board of Licenses, resulting in the Rhode Island General Assembly’s passage of the recommended licensing legislation in 2017.

Having grown up in the neighborhoods she now represents, Councilwoman Ryan is a strong advocate for neighborhood and community investment. Recognizing the vital role libraries play in the lives of young people and families, she actively supports the Mount Pleasant Community Library and the city’s entire library system.

Councilwoman Ryan established the Armand E. Batastini Jr. Recreation Center to provide high-quality, safe after-school programming for area youth. She helped revitalize and improve the Mount Pleasant High School baseball field and supported the development of the school’s music program. She has also secured improvements to parks throughout Ward Five, including Viscilosi Park, Pleasant Valley Parkway, and Mount Pleasant Park.

In addition, Councilwoman Ryan spearheaded the complete rehabilitation and renovation of historic Conley Stadium on Mount Pleasant Avenue, transforming it into a premier multiuse athletic facility. Her efforts helped bring the Rhode Island State Track and Field Championships back to Conley Stadium for the first time since 1959. She was also a vocal and proud supporter of bringing middle school athletics into the Interscholastic League and establishing official sports programs in Providence’s middle schools.

Councilwoman Ryan brings more than 30 years of experience in Rhode Island’s financial services industry, as well as a Master of Business Administration degree, to her work on the City Council. She currently serves as Vice President of Business Administration and Asset Acquisition at Customers Bank. Previously, she held senior management positions in program compliance, corporate communications, and asset and product management at Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, Old Stone Bank, and Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank. Her programs designed to help working families purchase and maintain safe, affordable homes—as well as her initiatives promoting management innovation—have received national industry best-practice awards.

Councilwoman Ryan previously served as Chairwoman of the Committee on Ordinances, the Special Committee on Municipal Operations and Oversight, the Tax and Revenue Commission, and the Housing Crisis Task Force. She also served as one of two Council-elected members of the Providence Water Supply Board. Her Council colleagues elected her Majority Whip in 2016 and Majority Leader in 2019.

Councilwoman Ryan and her husband, Attorney Thomas J. Ryan, are active members of their community and parishioners of St. Pius V Church. They are the proud parents of two adult children, Attorney Brendan F. Ryan and Megan R. Lynch, MBA, TCRG, and the proud grandparents of two grandchildren.