Best Buddies in Ohio congratulates Ryan Hoffman on becoming a Global Ambassador for Best Buddies International! Best Buddies Ambassadors is a program that provides training for participants with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in areas of speech writing, public speaking, and self-advocacy. A small group of ambassadors who have become eloquent speakers for the Best Buddies’ mission and role models within the disability rights movement are asked to serve a two-year term as Global Ambassadors for Best Buddies.

Ryan has been a part of Best Buddies for more than a decade. He started with Best Buddies in a college program and then became a State Ambassador for Florida in 2020. While in Florida, he served on the National Best Buddies Young Leaders Council from 2019 to 2021.

Ryan recently moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and has been an outstanding community leader. He spoke at the inaugural 2021 Champion of the Year: Cleveland Gala, sharing the importance of inclusion through his personal story about growing up in a school without Best Buddies. Sharing his story and the mission of inclusion has become a true passion for Ryan.
Ryan shares, “I worked incredibly hard to become a Global Ambassador. When I became a State Ambassador in 2020, I had already set my mind on becoming a Global Ambassador for Best Buddies one day.”

Whether he is reading to children at the local library or volunteering as a Speech Coach at a Best Buddies Ambassador Training, Ryan embodies inclusion every day. We are thrilled for Ryan as he begins this new endeavor, and we know he will continue to spread the mission of inclusion for people with IDD here in Ohio and across the globe.

If you would like to learn more about hosting an Ambassador Training, volunteering as a Speech Coach, or becoming a Best Buddies Ambassador, please email Ohio@bestbuddies.org.