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 YEO National Convening | 2015 89 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