Ryan Ravens

Ryan Ravens is the CEO of Accelerate Cape Town, a business leadership organisation representing top-tier corporate business in the Cape Town city region. He currently holds three degrees including an MBA from the University of Cape Town (UCT), in addition to numerous globally recognised professional certifications such as CIPM: PMBOK and PRINCE2.

Ryan, a life-long entrepreneur, owned and managed a successful management consultancy for a number of years before he was approached by FIFA in 2006 to develop the first draft of the masterplan for the 2010 World Cup – delivered months later to high acclaim, Ryan was asked to join FIFA on a full-time basis to oversee implementation of the event. Following the successful delivery of the FIFA 2010 World Cup, he was head-hunted by the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (formally BlueIQ) where he served as Group Executive: EPMO (Enterprise Programme Management Office), as well as Strategic Partnerships. Following a 3-year stint with the agency, Ryan returned to his entrepreneurial roots with investments in numerous start-ups including solar renewables, large-scale project advisory services, and cloud-based software development.

Ryan has extensive experience in leadership positions across both public and private sectors, has worked in all the major SA cities, as well as geographically diverse regions such as Shanghai, Lagos, Doha, and Zurich. Ryan believes in the power of education to transform lives and is passionate about making a positive difference in the SA socio-economic landscape.