National Convening Program Books 2015 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 90
YEO Bios
Natalia Rudiak
City Councilwoman
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak represents the Fourth District in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania where she serves as the chair of the Committee on Finance
and Law. She was named one of the 40 under 40 by PUMP and Pittsburgh
Magazine in 2009, voted Young Democrat of the Year in 2011, and was
named an Outstanding Elected Democratic Woman by the Pennsylvania
Federation of Democratic Women in 2012. Rudiak’s professional experience
is in management and technology. She previously worked at Deloitte Consulting, where she
implemented a state-wide information technology system, and has done press work for the United
States Senate in Washington, D.C. Rudiak earned her bachelor’s degree from George Washington
University and has studied at the London School of Economics, Carnegie Mellon University, as well as
the Jagiellonian University in Poland. Councilwoman Rudiak is the Pennsylvania state director of the
YEO Network and a board member of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. @nataliarudiak
Ryan Ruelas
School Board Trustee
Anaheim, California
Ryan Anthony Ruelas was born and raised in the city of Anaheim. He has a
B.A. in politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.A. in
history from California State University, Fullerton. Ruelas has been teaching
history at Anaheim High School for 11 years. He is part of the executive
board for the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association and is a California
Teachers Association State Delegate. He is the advisor to BROS, a studentrun organization that focuses on increasing the amount of Chicano/Latino male students at the
university level. In 2012, Ruelas was named AUHSD Teacher of the Year, as well as an Orange County
Teacher of the Year semi-finalist; this year, Ruelas received the Apple of Gold Excellence in Teaching
award from the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund. This November, Ruelas was elected as trustee
to the Anaheim City School Board.
Jacob Ryan
School Committee Member
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Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Jacob “Jacquelyn” Ryan was elected to the Tantasqua Regional School
Committee in April 2014. She ran at 18 as an openly transsexual candidate,
making her the first openly transsexual and youngest person to be elected
in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and to the regional school committee. She
has been active in politics since the age of 14, becoming the youngest
member of her political party’s town committee. Ryan became the
youngest chair of a study committee at the age of 18. She likes to jog and plans to pursue a career in
civil rights law. @JacobJRyan