Ryan Smith

Ryan Smith is a strong leader adapt at building collaborations; he thrives in uniting diverse stakeholders. Since 2011 Ryan has been working as an asset manager for Beartooth Capital—a $70M impact investment fund that specializes in complex real-estate transactions creating value by restoring and protecting ranches. At Beartooth Capital, Ryan led three of their most complex and resource intensive ranches to maximize environmental impact and financial returns. This community-based work requires careful diplomacy and building trust to navigate intricate transactions. Last year he helped launch a new venture under the Beartooth umbrella—Collaborative Conservation Advisors a strategy development and implementation group that enables clients to protect and enhance the rural communities they love. As the lead analyst, he led a team that piloted this work for their client—a $500M foundation —analyzing the partner capacity, potential conservation projects and community goals for a keystone landscape within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Based on assessments, Beartooth Capitol proposed a portfolio of 14 projects, ranging from creating a community crane refuge to conservation easement auctions, that would connect the community to their natural resources, attract additional funding and achieve $18M of critical conservation for a net cost of $7M. They are poised to implement this work applying the full suite of conservation finance tools. He is a 2011 graduate of PERC’s Enviropreneur Institute.