Ryan Stephenson

I am originally from Williamsburg and short of a few moves early on, I have lived here all of my life. I went to DJ Montague for elementary school, Toano for middle school and Lafayette for high school. After high school, I attended Virginia Tech and pursued a degree in Civil Engineering. College was an incredible experience. The course load, homework and responsibility were nothing like high school and freshman year was extremely difficult. Once I got accustomed to college life, everything fell into place. Outside of the schoolwork I had an amazing time in Blacksburg, going to Hokie football games and meeting new friends…especially my future wife!

After graduating from Virginia Tech, I accepted a position with a local engineering firm (AES Consulting Engineers) that I interned with throughout college. The economy was booming at the time, so I jumped right into the fray and was a member of a design team that worked on Colonial Heritage (among numerous other projects). I started at AES as an intern and have worked my way up to becoming a senior project manager. I am also a part owner in the company and take great pride in what I do. Moving from designing projects to managing projects has been quite the learning experience, as management is not something that is taught in school.

I married my best friend and wife a year after college, and we moved into our first house together in a small neighborhood near Jamestown. We enjoy many of the same hobbies (especially movies and music) and spent quality time together while balancing our demanding work lives. Four years into our marriage we had our first child….and we followed that with two more children several years later. Our lives changed with three small kids in the house, and we eventually moved to a larger home in Powhatan Secondary. Additionally, our free time now consists of carpooling kids to soccer games, helping with homework and trips to Busch Gardens!

In addition to my love of movies and music, I am a huge sports fan. I spend a lot of my free time watching sports (especially football) and playing fantasy sports with friends and colleagues. I enjoy weekly trivia night with co-workers at a local brewery and still find time to see a movie or go to concerts with friends. Family is especially important to me. I grew up in a large extended family and a lot of my closest friends are actually family members. Most of my family grew up here in Williamsburg and a majority of them still live in the area. We have frequent cookouts and parties and my wife and I rarely have a problem finding a babysitter for our kids!

It is a privilege to serve on the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy Board. I look forward to meeting my fellow Board members and bringing my knowledge and expertise to the group.