Chandell Ryan became the first female Chief Operating Officer for the City of Memphis in 2022 and is responsible for directly managing and overseeing all city departments and related agencies. Prior to this appointment, Ryan served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer providing strategic day-to-day service delivery, resource allocation, and policy development for all City divisions. She became the first female Solid Waste Director (Interim) in 2021 while also serving as DCOO and she instituted new technology, route optimization, and on-the-job CDL and Picker Operator training to the Solid Waste team. As an 18-year veteran at City government, Ryan held a total of 8 various attorney, human resource management, and operations roles across 4 divisions, including her service as the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Officer where she launched the City’s overall D&I strategy. Her experience outside of City government includes general civil litigation, management, and human resources.

Ryan obtained her Juris Doctorate from the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, in 2001. She is a New Memphis Leadership Development Intensive Alum (2017) and Leadership Memphis Executive Program graduate (2020). The Memphis Business Journal recently added Ryan to their 2023 Power100 list created for the most powerful people in Memphis Business. A native Memphian, Ryan is deeply involved in the Memphis community, serving on several boards including New Memphis Institute, Innovate Memphis, Memphis Medical District Collaborative, Memphis Convention Center Commission, and the Tennessee Labor-Management Foundation.