Ryan Frazier

Last updated
Ryan Frazier
RyanFrazier.jpg
Aurora City Council Member At-Large
In office
November 2003 2011
Personal details
Born (1977-09-08) September 8, 1977 (age 41)
Wilmington, North Carolina
Political party Independent
Residence Aurora, Colorado
Alma mater Columbia College, [1] Regis University
OccupationExecutive, Businessman, Naval Intelligence, Politician

Ryan L. Frazier (born September 8, 1977) is an American public figure, businessman, and leads his own management consulting company, Frazier Global Strategies. He was a Senior Vice President with the American Hospital Association and served as senior advisor strategic relations and head of government relations for Air Methods Corporation, an Air Medical and Air Tourism company. [2] He is a former at-large member of the Aurora City Council, 2010 Republican candidate for United States House of Representatives Colorado's 7th congressional district and was a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016. He was first elected as a councilman in 2003 and served two terms. [3]

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they comprise the legislature of the United States.

Colorados 7th congressional district

Colorado's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the central part of the state, the district encompasses much of the northern and western parts of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, including Golden, Lakewood, Arvada and Westminster.

Contents

Frazier is registered as an unaffiliated voter but was previously listed by Newsmax as one of the 100 most influential African-American Republicans in the United States. [4] In 2017, he was named one of the top 100 Most Influential People of African Descent in Politics and Governance by MIPAD, a global civil society initiative in support of the United Nation's International Decade for People of African Descent. [5]

Personal life

Frazier is the middle son of Arcina (Jacobs) Pyatt. He and his two brothers were raised by his single mother in Wilmington, NC, after his father left when he was 7 years old. He graduated from New Hanover High School where he played basketball, football, and ran track. Frazier received his bachelor's degree from Columbia College, his Master's from Regis University, and was selected as a Gates Family Fellow to complete Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives program. [2] Frazier has three children. [6]

Professional life

Frazier is the owner and managing principal of Frazier Global Strategies, a strategic management consulting firm started in 2011. [7] . From 2017 to 2018, he served as the Senior Vice President of Member Relations with the American Hospital Association. He guided the association's efforts to assist Puerto Rico's and the U.S. Virgin Island's hospitals and the communities they served during their long-term recovery after Hurricane Maria. [8] He was Senior Advisor Strategic Relations and Head of Government Relations for Air Methods Corporation, where he led business engagement with the health field, aviation industry, and federal, state, and local governments to effect change in policy, law, and rules. [2] He has contributed as a FOX 31 Political Analyst, an NBC-affiliate 9News 'Political Expert', previously a regular on FOX Business' ‘The Willis Report’ All-Star Panel, and FOX News Channel ‘Hannity’s’ Great American Panel. [9]

Frazier was named a Senior Fellow at the Health Research and Education Trust, a not-for-profit research and education affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA). [10] He was also a member of the Business Advisory Council with the coalition to protect America's Healthcare. [2]

He has a reputation of being one of the most skilled orators in Colorado and across the United States. [11] [2]

Military service

Frazier served in the U.S. Navy, where he was assigned to the National Security Agency. He completed training at the Cryptologic School in Pensacola, Florida. [12] [13]

Community service

He co-founded and served as board president of High Point Academy, a pre-K through 8th grade public charter school, serving over 800 students. [14] Frazier also is a member of the Colorado Boxing Commission since June 2013 [15] He is a founding board member of Africa Agenda, a non-profit dedicated to the cause of promoting positive news and fostering engagement in the U.S. about the countries of the continent of Africa and the progress being made. [16]

Frazier previously served as an advisory board member of Engineers Without Borders-USA, an organization that helps underdeveloped communities in Africa, Asia, and South America. [17]

Aurora City Council

First elected to the non-partisan Aurora City Council in 2003 at the age of 26, Frazier was re-elected in 2007. During his tenure on the council, Frazier worked on the city budget, supported a public/private life-sciences city on the former Fitzsimmons Army Medical base, was a leading advocate for bringing professional racing to Colorado, and led the adoption of Cop-Link, a system to connect law enforcement agencies to critical information, which has since gone into use across Colorado. Frazier sought to strengthen small business opportunities in Aurora with city contracting goals for small business participation and also promoted "boundless playgrounds" for disabled children. [18]

Frazier took controversial positions in 2006, where he came out in favor of State Referendum I to extend domestic partnerships to same sex couples and again in 2009 where he successfully proposed and ushered passage of the city of Aurora's adoption of employment benefits for employees in domestic partnerships. [19] In 2008, Frazier drew the ire of union leaders nationally and locally by supporting a 'Right to Work'amendement, which subsequently failed at the ballot box. Frazier claimed he supported the amendment because he believed that every worker should have the right to decide whether they want to part of a union or not, and that their decision should not be a condition of their employment. [20]

Frazier completed the 2005 Senior Executives in Government program at Havard University's Kennedy School of Government where he was a Gates Family Fellow. It was on a 2008 trip to a global conference hosted by Harvard University in Shanghai, China, that he first developed a growing interest in the U.S-Chinese relationship. Frazier continued to participate in other U.S.-China engagements throughout his time on city council, having attended the National League of Cities sponsored U.S. Cities and Chinese cities conference in Seattle, WA.

Political campaigns

In 2003 and again in 2007, Frazier won two non-partisan citywide elections to be elected as an Aurora City Councilman, At-Large. He was the City of Aurora's second African American and the first African American man elected in Colorado's third largest city. In 2010 Frazier, now an independent, won the congressional district 7 Republican primary by a margin of 64.34% to 35.66% and went on to challenge Ed Perlmutter, who has represented Colorado's 7th congressional district since 2007. [11] Frazier lost to Perlmutter 53.1% to 42.1%. [21] [22] Libertarian Buck Bailey, receiving 4.8% of the vote, was also a candidate for the 7th Congressional District in 2010.

In 2016, Frazier ran to challenge incumbent democratic Senator Michael Bennet. He was among three others that lost the Republican primary to Darryl Glenn.

References

  1. "CC Notes" (PDF). Affinity: 56. Winter 2012. Ryan Frazier '02 currently serves as the president and Ceo of Western Skies forum in Aurora, Colo.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Frazier named SVP of AHA" . Retrieved 2017-06-08.
  3. "Frazier's star rises in GOP". Colorado Statesman. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  4. "America's Most Influential African-American Republicans". 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  5. "2017 MIPAD" (PDF). 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  6. "Frazier For Colorado". Facebook. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  7. "FGS Supports Back to School Effort". 2012-07-27. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  8. "Puerto Rico Hospital's Road to Recovery". 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
  9. "Aurora's Own Congressional Race: A New District, Evenly Divided". Aurora Sentinel. 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
  10. "HRET Senior Fellow". HRETl. 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  11. 1 2 "Ryan Frazier shifts efforts to CD 7 race". Colorado Statesman. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  12. "Ryan Frazier". Washington Post. 2012-07-23. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  13. "America's Morning News". Washington Times. 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  14. "HPA Co-founder". High Point Academy Website. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  15. "State Boxing Commission". Colorado Boxing Commission. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  16. "Africa Agenda Founder". Africa Agenda. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  17. "Engineers Without Borders". Washington Post Blogs. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
  18. "About Ryan | Ryan Frazier for Colorado". Frazierforcolorado.com. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  19. "Domestic Partnerships". Colorado Independent. 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  20. "Colorado Amendment 47". Westword. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  21. "Colorado 7". New York Times . 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  22. Fox News 2010 election results page