RYAN WILSON

Ryan Wilson is the Co-founder and CEO of The Gathering Spot, the membership community he launched in Atlanta in 2016 at age 24 and has since built into one of the country’s most influential platforms for creatives, professionals, and entrepreneurs. More than a club, TGS is a movement: a home for groundbreaking ideas, culturally significant events, and the connections that turn ambition into outcomes.

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His work is animated by a single conviction: community and connection are the foundation of opportunity. His mission is to build the spaces where the two come together.

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Today, The Gathering Spot is home to a community of more than 12,000 members and operates four physical locations: its Atlanta flagship, Retreat by The Gathering Spot in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Member communities extend to New York City, Detroit, Charlotte, Houston, and Chicago. The company has raised more than $30 million in funding. Its stages have hosted many of the most influential figures of our time, including a former U.S. president, leaders of the country’s largest companies, and some of the biggest artists in the world. After a 2022 acquisition by a fintech company, Ryan and his co-founder reacquired The Gathering Spot in late 2023, reaffirming their commitment to its independence and mission.

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Inc. Magazine named The Gathering Spot one of its 2025 Best Companies for Doing Social Good, and Modern Luxury listed Retreat among Atlanta’s five best membership clubs. Ryan has been named Small Business Person of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, recognized by Goldman Sachs as one of its Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and honored with the Phoenix Award, Atlanta’s highest civic honor. He has appeared on The Root 100, the Ebony Power 100, Georgia Trend’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under Forty and 100 Most Powerful Leaders lists. In 2023, the Association for Fundraising Professionals named him Philanthropic Leader of Tomorrow.

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Beyond TGS, Ryan is a leading voice on small business, equity, and economic empowerment. He led the Economic Freedom Talks, a national initiative during the 2024 presidential cycle that reached 75,000 people on the case for small business support and equity. He has been a featured speaker for BET’s national voting program and served as a co-chair of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ successful 2024 re-election campaign. Georgetown University recognized his impact with the Marcia G. Cooke Award, given to alumni who have made a significant mark within 15 years of graduation.

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A sought-after speaker and moderator, Ryan has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., The New York Times, Black Enterprise, and Bloomberg Businessweek. He has delivered keynotes for Goldman Sachs, Delta, Google, Meta, Ford Motor Company, Nike, White & Case, and Coca-Cola, and at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2025, his work became the subject of a business school case study on influencer marketing in higher education, co-developed by Kennesaw State University and Ivey Business School, examining his partnership with an MBA program to expand its reach and grow enrollment.

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A native of Atlanta, Ryan is deeply committed to the city that shaped him. He serves on the boards of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Goodwill of North Georgia, The Carter Center, The Woodruff Arts Center, the Fox Theater, Usher’s New Look, the Atlanta Business League, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of the 100 Black Men and the Atlanta Rotary Club, and graduated from Leadership Atlanta as a member of the Class of 2026.

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Ryan holds degrees from Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center, where he serves on the Board of Regents. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children.