About The AHA! Movement

Ryan Smith is a creative, artistic communications leader. With over a decade of corporate communications experience, his specialty lies in executive, crisis, and marketing communications. Currently, he manages all aspects of content for the globe’s leader in serviced accommodations, Synergy Global Housing. Prior to Synergy, Smith was the Director of Communications for Land Home Financial Services, a national mortgage banker, where he was managed all aspects of internal and external communications, specifically public relations, and social media marketing. His working experience spans the hospitality, mortgage, tech, and entertainment sectors.

Smith is a published author, winner of Seth Godin’s altMBA Perkins Award, and the founding president of a PRSSA chapter at his alma mater, California State University, Sacramento.

In his leisure… he craves long hikes (especially those involving 40-pound packs), creating fictional story-lines, hunting for passport stamps, and a testy game of corn hole, foosball, darts, shuffleboard, pool, ping pong—or pretty much any competition compatible with strong IPAs.

Frankie Dickinson has been active in anti-hazing awareness campaigns for the last decade.

That work includes sitting on the Matt Carrington Committee, which was instrumental in working toward the 2006 passage of Matt’s Law. In addition, Dickinson returns to Chico, California, every year on the anniversary of Carrington’s death, where she reaches out to educate current students about the dangers of hazing. With Debbie Smith, MM, she also participated in a 2005 National Public Radio interview on Matt.

In addition, Dickinson is a committed volunteer in many community events, including local fundraisers for Head Start; AIDS Walk San Francisco, and Walk to Cure Arthritis. She is also active in raising awareness and funding for non-profit arts and educational organizations in her area, including Parents of Playmakers and Volunteer Parents of the Arts Club.

Dickinson has been with her partner, Ben, for nearly three decades, and is mom to Bobby, Trevor and Christian. She is also Matt Carrington’s aunt.

Ken is a native of Contra Costa County. In his early childhood, his family lived in Concord but then settled in Pleasant Hill in the early 1970’s. He attended Pleasant Hill Middle School and moved on to Pleasant Hill High School. He would have been a member of the last graduating class in 1980 if his father had not been transferred to Southern California before his senior year. 

While growing up in Pleasant Hill he became an Eagle Scout as part of Walnut Creek Troop 820 and enjoyed the benefit of PHBA, playing many baseball games on the fields at Pleasant Hill Park. Ken discovered from an early age about giving back to your community through dedicated public service. His grandfather, James Moriarty, was a long time county supervisor and he was often taken along on to Walnut Festival Parades, campaign stops, and other such events. 

Ken graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.A. in Communications. He then travelled to Seoul, Korea for eighteen months of missionary work. He lived and worked in the Korean communities learning their language and teaching English. 

Returning to the Bay Area he settled briefly in Martinez and enrolled in a Masters program at San Francisco States University. While a student, he was hired as an Intern with the Concord Police Department in February of 1988 and 6 short months later offered a position as a Police Officer. By December he had graduated from the Police Academy and began a career as a Police Officer. During this time he was also instrumental in successfully broadcasting the first Concord City Council meetings over the local cable networks. 

Ken has had a very diverse career with the police department working as a Patrol Officer, various investigative positions, a Crisis Negotiator and is currently assigned to the Traffic Unit as the Traffic Investigator. He worked as a member of the county’s Forensic Mental Health Team, which was a coalition of multiple county agencies, nonprofit organizations, the courts and Law Enforcement focusing on the chronically homeless and mentally in our communities. He became very active in the Concord Police Association, serving on the Executive Board, as President, and chairing the Political Action Committee.