Ryan Elza

Ryan Elza currently serves the Vice President for Innovation, Growth, and Business Transformation at Volunteers of America National Services (VOANS), where he helps to lead their new program development and Health & Housing work. He has an extensive background in the social determinants of health (SDOH), design thinking and civic engagement. He is a nationally recognized subject matter expert on Social Connectedness, Digital Equity and Inclusion, and Voice-First design for older adults. Ryan has been at the frontier of developing programs to address social isolation and loneliness including voice-first solutions for low-income older adults.

Ryan is a trained anthropologist and has a master’s degree in technology entrepreneurship from the University of Maryland. Prior to joining VOANS, Ryan Elza led AARP Foundation’s social isolation and digital inclusion work. Ryan developed and launched several initiatives during his tenure at AARP Foundation, including the Connect2Affect Connected Communities program, the Connect2Affect My Activity Center, and a public-private initiative with the Administration for Community Living and other federal agencies to launch the National Coordinating Center for Social Isolation, a national awareness campaign about social isolation, and a clearinghouse of technology solutions to address social isolation. Through his combined work at AARP Foundation, he has impacted the lives of thousands of low-income older adults and equipped them with technology and solutions to address social isolation.