--- title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Ryan Rippel description: Find out who else is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2026 list. canonical: https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/ryan-rippel/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-05-14T12:02:10.383Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-14T12:02:10.691Z article:section: TIME100 og:title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Ryan Rippel og:description: Find out who else is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2026 list og:url: https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/ryan-rippel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt529dbcbcf1133cc6/69fe39cc500de57b47927717/t100-philanthropy-Ryan_Rippel.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME100 Philanthropy: Ryan Rippel og:type: article twitter:card: summary twitter:title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Ryan Rippel twitter:description: Find out who else is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2026 list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt529dbcbcf1133cc6/69fe39cc500de57b47927717/t100-philanthropy-Ryan_Rippel.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 14, 2026 # Ryan Rippel Funding tech for good by Sandra Block  Courtesy NextLadder Ventures Chief among the anxieties surrounding artificial intelligence is the potential disruption to the workforce and, therefore, to economic mobility. Where some see a threat, however, Ryan Rippel sees an opportunity to help those in need. As CEO of NextLadder Ventures, launched in 2025 by the Gates Foundation, Ballmer Group, and other wealthy donors, Rippel is responsible for channeling over $1 billion in grants and finance toward tech solutions intended to help Americans navigate unemployment, housing insecurity, health crises, and other challenges. Rippel knows firsthand how precarious the lives of working class Americans can be. When he was three years old, his father, who owned a sporting goods store in Mexico, Missouri, was killed in a car accident, leaving his mother to raise Ryan and his sister alone. “Our life changed dramatically,” he says. “Every member of my family fell down the ladder.” Services available for families in crisis are often highly fragmented. Ripple envisions a future where a single AI “superagent” could help someone find housing and search for a job. NextLadder is also exploring ways to support the millions of Americans who have criminal records that hinder access to jobs, housing, and government programs. The firm has invested in a startup that will use technology to help with the complicated process of having criminal records overturned. “We know that the economic ladder of opportunity has been moving down, not up, for decades,” Rippel says. “It’s a challenge that needs urgent attention.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/ryan-rippel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/ryan-rippel/"},"headline":"Ryan Rippel","datePublished":"2026-05-14T12:02:10.383Z","dateModified":"2026-05-14T12:02:10.691Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/ryan-rippel/","keywords":["list","franchise","Accolades","Magazine","Philanthropy 2026"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt529dbcbcf1133cc6/69fe39cc500de57b47927717/t100-philanthropy-Ryan_Rippel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sandra Block"}],"creator":"Sandra Block","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt529dbcbcf1133cc6/69fe39cc500de57b47927717/t100-philanthropy-Ryan_Rippel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/ryan-rippel/","name":"Ryan Rippel"}}]}] ```