Matt Ryerson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of Greater Knoxville where he is leading a century-old philanthropic organization. His leadership is positioning UWGK to better fight our community’s greatest challenges through community driven systemic work. In his one year at the helm, Matt has ushered UWGK into a new era of effective impact. He closed the deal to sign on the first major University to Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud just before working to raise over $1 million in COVID emergency funding for Knoxville and ultimately a $10 million gift from noted philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, a record-setting gift at UWGK.   

Matt’s service in the United Way network includes several years of service in the National Professional Council (NPC) and the National Presidents Roundtable (NPR), an early adopter of the network technology Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud (SPC), as well as several subcommittees.  In the Tennessee state association, he has served as a Board Member for the past 8 years and Board Chairman in 2015.

Matt’s passion is to create opportunities in low-income communities with the belief that with the appropriate tools, people can achieve their full potential and thrive. Matt has been the recipients of a number of awards in his career, most notably Kiwanis Community Leadership award in 2015 in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Matt holds a BS in Education from Bowling Green State University and a EJD from Concord Law School at Purdue University Global.   He has a wife and four children and calls Knoxville, Tennessee home.