Young America’s Foundation alumnus Ryan Sawtelle has made it his mission to honor and support America’s veterans. Starting while an undergraduate at Pepperdine University and continuing into his professional career, he aims to assist heroes in need.
Ryan became involved with Young America’s Foundation in college by hosting conservative speakers such as John Ashcroft, Dinesh D’Souza, Noni Darwish, and Mike Adams. He also attended multiple student conferences at the Reagan Ranch Center and qualified for Club 100 twice for all of his activism efforts (In 2016, he was named to Pepperdine University’s 40 under 40).
He also participated in the Foundation 9/11 Never Forget project on campus which he used as inspiration for an ongoing memorial called the Wave of Flags 9/11 Memorial on Pepperdine’s Alumni Park. Still organized today, the 8-acre display of 2,977 flags in 10-foot high poles, serves as a larger-than-life memorial to the victims and heroes of 9/11.
In line with his passion for helping post-9/11 heroes, Ryan currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director of The White Heart Foundation which is a non-profit committed to serving the needs of severely injured soldiers through direct community support. Through this charity, donors can choose directly which wounded soldier’s needs to support with life enhancing goods and services. White Heart also seeks to utilize a network of support from the soldier’s local community to help them assimilate back into civilian life.
Ryan is also an actor, known for “Absolute Killers” (2011), “Share the Dare” (2013) and “Game Night” (2014).
Young America’s Foundation is proud to see our alumni continuing to use their talents to make meaningful contributions in their communities and to enrich the lives of others.
