Ryan Dalton is an educator, social worker, restorative justice practitioner, and community organizer with more than two decades of experience working alongside young people, families, and schools in under-resourced communities in the United States and abroad. He grew up in Putnam County, live away for a while, and now lives in Cookeville with his two daughters, Maya and Teige. Ryan’s work is rooted in a simple belief: communities are strongest when they center dignity, care, and collective responsibility, and when leadership treats people as neighbors, not problems. Ryan began his work as a social worker and community advocate in Cape Town, South Africa, spending ten years doing street outreach, youth development, family support, and community organizing with homeless and at-risk youth. He earned degrees in Social Work, Psychology, and Social Development at the University of Cape Town before returning to the U.S. to teach special education in Brooklyn public schools, where he helped lead a shift from punitive discipline to a whole-school restorative practices model while earning his master’s in education from Long Island University. He later taught in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was named Teacher of the Year, before coming home to Cookeville in 2020. Today, Ryan teaches at Avery Trace Middle School (where he famously, but “accidentally” founded the ATMS Pickle Club) and continues consulting work with New York City Public Schools on restorative justice and school culture. He’s also the founder of Restoring Childhood, a community initiative focused on reducing youth anxiety, strengthening family connection, and protecting unstructured play and childhood wellbeing. Ryan is running for Putnam County Mayor because he believes local leadership should focus on the real issues families are living—education, housing, mental health, and dignity—and because he’s committed to helping build a Putnam County where people can truly put down roots and thrive.