Prosper West San Antonio announced the appointment of Ryan Kuhl as its new president and CEO on Wednesday. Kuhl is stepping into the role after having served as the organization’s interim CEO for the past six months.
Kuhl’s appointment comes at a critical time for the nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to fostering prosperity on the city’s Westside. He succeeds former CEO Ramiro Gonzales, whose resignation in May left the organization in a transitional period, marked by both internal changes and challenges related to city funding and redevelopment efforts.
Prosper West — formerly Westside Development Corporation — received the last of its economic development department dollars from the city in September, and is undergoing a shift in where its revenue comes from.
In 2023, an internal audit found that the city had not been adequately monitoring its funding agreement with Prosper West, and the nonprofit had not properly documented all its processes. That audit was the catalyst behind the city’s decision to hold off on funding Prosper West moving forward, as well as to halt funding to the San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside (SAGE) and Southside First Economic Development Council.
Kuhl says he looks forward to helping the organization move into its next phase.
His previous roles include managing partner at First American Commercial Property Group, real estate manager for Center City Development and chief operating officer for SA2020.
Kuhl said his immediate priorities include bolstering support for Westside small businesses, as well as implementing long-term initiatives to strengthen the Westside’s economic foundation.
“Our focus is on driving community-centered solutions that uplift our neighbors and create sustainable growth for generations to come,” Kuhl said. “By providing targeted resources, building partnerships, and listening to the voices of our community, we will continue to redefine what’s possible for San Antonio’s Westside.”
We sat down with Kuhl to ask him more about his new role and to discuss his vision for Prosper West moving forward.
The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Q: Tell us a bit about your background.
A: Well, I’ve lived in San Antonio my entire life. I have worked here my entire adult life. I came out of college and went straight into commercial real estate — and worked in commercial real estate for about 15 years. I also have worked at the City of San Antonio, running real estate for the Center City Development and Operations. Then I was also the chief operating officer for SA2020 when it was at the inception of the organization, so I’ve got kind of a unique background of public, private and nonprofit sector leadership. It’s been really neat to see San Antonio from all those different sides. While I was at the City of San Antonio, I met my predecessor, Ramiro Gonzalez. He was also working at the city, and so that’s that’s how we knew each other. Two years ago, he reached out about a job here at Prosper West. It was just a good fit. It was a great fit. So I came in, did that for a year, and when he stepped down, the board named me interim. The rest is history.
Q: Tell us your goals for Prosper West now that you’re the official president and CEO.
A: There’s so much — it’s a big question. I think one of my main goals is to make sure that we’re community-centered first. I think, first and foremost, my goal is to make sure that whatever we do is centered around community feedback, it’s centered around having a dialog, a constant, continuous dialog, with the community. I’m focused on place-based economic development, place-based initiatives. If you’re not coming from that that place-based mindset, then you’re ignoring the nuance and the uniqueness of the neighborhoods, of the people that you work for, that you’re trying to advocate for.
Q: Tell me about this transitional period for Prosper West as it’s shifted away from city funding.
A: Yeah, I mean we’re not the only ones in this boat. The fact is, for a long time, the city — and for us, the county as well — were funders of a majority of our work, and that’s not the case for a lot of nonprofits in San Antonio. What I want to do is, I still want to have very productive, very strong, partnerships and collaborations with the city and the county. But we have to diversify our funding, and so I’ve been speaking with the board about making sure that we’re meeting with foundations, that we’re meeting with corporations, we’re meeting with banks, that we’re meeting with institutions, and organizations that understand the work that we do and want to support it.
Q: You’re not a native Westsider. Tell me a little bit about how you’ve familiarized yourself with the area and what that process has been like so far.
A: What’s been most helpful to me is getting out and meeting different organizations, meeting different leaders, different community members — and just listening. Taking them to lunch, or taking them on a tour of one of our properties, taking them to coffee and just asking to hear their stories and understand what they’ve been doing. There’s a deep history here, which is something I’m hyperaware of. I was reading a report earlier today that was done 20 years ago — and it’s a lot of the same challenges facing the community today that they were facing 20 years ago. And probably even 40 years ago. So it can be it can be overwhelming, but there are a lot of really good people doing really good things here. You just have to go and make it a point to actually go and talk to them.
Q: This part of San Antonio really does carry our city’s deep Mexican-American heritage and roots. How are you connecting with that part of the West Side as you grow Prosper West?
A: I’m getting out in the community and I’m talking to a lot of people, and I’m proud that I’ve lived in San Antonio my whole life and been surrounded by the rich culture — but I will add, basically my second in command, my lieutenant, Rebeca Canizales, she is a native Westsider, born and raised. When I go and give a talk or I go to a meeting, I come out of it and I think, ‘Oh, man, that was great,’ and she’ll come up to me and I’ll say, ‘What did you think?’ and she’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s good, but-‘ and I love that about our working relationship. The thing is, there’s more than just the academic understanding of the nuance of an area like the West Side. If you don’t have somebody who can share with you the lived-experience perspective, then what are you doing? You have to have that lived-experience feedback, and that’s why the place-based economic development model is the correct model for areas like the West Side.
