Ryan Serrano

During his six years in Long Beach, 24-yearold Ryan Serrano has firmly planted himself within our variegated garden of a city. A graduate of CSULB, Ryan works as an independent contractor providing clients with regenerative landscaping and specializing in sustainable food production and native landscaping. He is also the founding director of Foodscape Long Beach, a nonprofit with a mission to help Long Beach achieve food security by transforming — and teaching others to transform —underutilized terrain into food-productive landscape. He is also a member of Food Not Bombs Long Beach, a collective that shares gluten-free vegan meals with the city’s under-served population; and of Occupy Long Beach, our local branch of the worldwide Occupy movement. “I think courage in our time translates to selflessness and acting on principles, not merely acknowledging that problems exist,” he says. In the midst of all this social do-gooding Ryan hosts Portfolio Coffeehouse’s weekly open mic, as well as perform music as a solo artist and in the band Panther Heart.