About Our Founder & President Julie Ryan

Founder Julie Ryan has had a passion for ministry to women and children for over three decades. In her twenties, as a young mom of three, she began “Young Moms Support Groups” to bring young mothers together in mutual support and encouragement, helping each other in the important task of raising their small children.

Later, she became the Director of  Women’s Ministry at her local church, where she helped women connect through small groups,  weekly Bible studies, and women’s retreats. While serving in Women’s Ministries, Julie became painfully aware of the burden on single moms. So, with the Lord’s leading, she designed an event where single mothers and their children could be ministered to in a myriad of ways by volunteers from the church and the community. This “Single Mom’s Morning Out,” in partnership with local media outlets, has grown significantly as several other churches throughout the region host Single Moms’ Morning Out in their own communities.

As the years went on, Julie found that her passion for ministry extended beyond the local area, and so she joined an international ministry that supports indigenous foreign workers as they free women from oppression in some of the most difficult areas around the world. Giving women the knowledge that they are highly valued in God’s eyes frees them from the lie that they are simply property. Learning that God loves and values them gives them dignity, giving them hope and determination to pursue a better future for themselves and their families.

Bringing her years of experiences and passions together, Julie recognized that a need existed to combine local and global ministries, and after much prayer and seeking God’s direction, in December of 2014, Catalyst Ministries was born. It has been Julie’s desire, and the ultimate goal of Catalyst, to glorify God and to lean on Him as The Catalyst and change agent in the lives of women at risk — both locally and globally.