IG: @the.ryanting

I’m Ryan Ting, the 2024–2025 DC Youth Mayor. I go to BASIS DC Charter High School, where I lead the Math Club and Programming Club. I’m also a Student Representative on the State Board of Education and volunteer with multiple local political campaigns.

I’m Asian American — my parents are both immigrants, who moved here not just for themselves, but so I could get a quality education and have opportunities I couldn’t obtain elsewhere. My maternal grandfather served as a paratrooper by day and studied law by night, passing the difficult test to become a military judge. He always wanted my mom to learn English and move to America, where he believed the future would be made. She did, and what that taught me was the importance of what we, in America, build and make not just for our use, but for the use of the many to come. 

We stand here at a crossroads. As a generation, our collective inaction may lead to democracy’s decay. We may indifferently walk by old evils — gerrymandering, corruption, and voting inequality — and new evils — deep fakes, online misinformation, and the decline of the press. 

But this program gives me hope. This program gives me hope that there are — and will continue to be — citizens interested in democracy. There will be people who are willing to think critically about their communities, to write bills, to debate them, and eventually to advocate for change.

It is my honor to serve as the 2024–2025 DC Youth Mayor.

Here are three lists of three:

Three qualities to embody: 1) Grit — I am willing to try over and over again to get everything right. 2) Creativity — I can come up with good ideas and have a multidisciplinary approach. 3) Honesty — I will be open to feedback and hold myself accountable.

I want to continue and improve 1) Mock Trial through implementing delegate’s feedback, 2) Communications through digital information centralization, and 3) Our advocacy through connecting delegates to voter registration, public hearings, and the writers of DC legislation

To do that I’ll need three things. 1) Continuous feedback and guidance from Y&G delegates, 2) Synergy with leaders, and 3) Your support.