Little Friends director helping quietly

It's a good thing Jack Ryan isn't responsible for giving himself performance reviews every year.

After nearly 35 years with Little Friends, the Naperville-based charity's executive director finds a way to explain the organization's success without taking credit.

Some successes he claims are due to timing. Donors also receive a fair share of recognition. But it's the employees that receive his greatest praise.

"Of everything we've been involved with over the years, what I'm most proud of is the professional growth that has taken place," he said. "It's really the people who work with our clients who have had the greatest success."

There are now more than 500 employees who work for the charity in some capacity.

"A great many of them are long-term," Ryan said, obviously pleased with this bit of data.

Little Friends started as an educational outreach program for developmentally disabled adults. Under Ryan's leadership, it has grown from serving about 100 children and adults through three programs each year to one that reaches more than 800 individuals through 14 programs that also include housing opportunities.

"Jack has completely dedicated his life to people with developmental disabilities," said longtime Little Friends board member Rae Martin. "It's not a job, it's a passion. And I know it sounds trite to say that, because you hear it about so many people, but to him, people with disabilities being treated with dignity and being given opportunities to excel is the essence of Jack."

Ryan started with Little Friends in 1973 after getting a job lead from a friend. About a year and a half later, he was put in charge of the program after the executive director retired.

After pushing growth in educational and vocational opportunities, Little Friends began focusing on finding and developing housing programs for developmentally disabled adults and children. The charity's capital program under Ryan's guidance has grown from nothing to owning nearly 40 buildings, 28 of which are residential.

Little Friends also has quickly become a leader in autism services in the area.

"Jack Ryan is synonymous with Little Friends and he'd be the first to admit it's far bigger than him," said Ray Kinney, a Naperville businessman who has worked with the group in the past. "But the truth is, it takes unique character to be able to do something like this for so long and I'm thankful Little Friends is out there taking care of peoples' needs."

Despite his protestations that Little Friends' success is due to a team effort, Ryan still has earned a reputation as an extraordinary leader in his field.

"My sister's mother-in-law is a special education teacher in central Missouri and I was talking with her at a family gathering one time and brought Jack's name up and she knew about him and was very excited that I knew him," Martin said. "That happens quite a bit really."