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Ryan presented Healthcare Disparities in the Transgender Community as a Diversity and Inclusion offering to employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in Detroit on August 26, 2016. As BCBSM expands their health care coverage in 2017 to include gender-transitions services the information shared by Ryan was relevant and timely. He encouraged questions as he presented and then took time to respond to each one.  This engagement allowed for a greater understanding of the issues. Feedback from attendees was, without exception, overwhelmingly positive. Ryan’s openness on his personal journey, the breadth of his information and his presentation style made the 90 minutes go by too quickly. I highly recommend Ryan.

It takes a lot of emotional strength and courage to tell a story like Ryan’s, but he was so passionate and knowledgeable in his speaking that it made others in the room actually feel like they were a part of his journey as well. There was a point when I scanned the room when Ryan was discussing a very difficult point in his life and I could see not one but many eyes in the room welling up with tears. To have this type of emotional reaction from an audience is the sign of an amazing speaker. Ryan not only educated, but deep down touched something in everyone who attended the training.

Here are a couple comments from the employee evaluations:

“Best training we’ve had in long time”

“It was fantastic and very educational”

“Ryan presented a very sensitive subject to us with great knowledge and skill.”

Thanks to Ryan Sallans, the Management Team and employees at Nebraska Furniture Mart had an opportunity to expand our knowledge and awareness of topics surrounding transgender employees (and customers).  Ryan created a comfortable learning environment for what might still be a somewhat awkward workplace topic.   Using real-world business best practices, personal experiences, and the perfect amount of humor, our team was able to unite behind this important initiative and learn what a healthy workplace family looks like.  Ryan is a subject matter expert who deftly cut through the mystery and confusion that often surrounds gender identity issues. I look forward to working with Ryan in the future to help further increase or organizational knowledge and acceptance.

Ryan is an excellent ambassador of the Transgender community, and is a great resource for organizations looking to advance their LGBT inclusion agendas.

 In celebration of Pride month, we hosted two staff events where Ryan presented key LGBT concepts such as gender orientation, gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation. He was very knowledgeable of LGBT-related themes and issues, and was very engaging and  personable as a presenter.  We received excellent feedback. Many participants were inspired by Ryan’s personal journey and thankful for the knowledge he shared.

I had the pleasure to collaborate with Ryan on two occasions, as part of EQUAL!’s efforts to foster greater inclusiveness within Nokia. Both times were a hit: by telling his own story, Ryan delivered a highly engaging (and relatable) talk while keeping the audience highly interested — whatever their background may be. I personally received very positive feedback from colleagues in all parts of Nokia around the globe, sparking discussions and greater understanding. I definitely look forward to more of these sessions.

“Ryan presented at our conference for therapists on what clinicians should know about transgender issues.  He was warm, funny, engaging and articulate.  The audience asked many questions and there was not a single question he was unable to answer.  His speaking evaluations were excellent. I highly recommend Ryan as a speaker.”