Denny Rydberg took office as Young Life’s fifth president in July of 1993. He was the first Young Life president to come from outside the organization and is the second-longest serving president after the founder, Jim Rayburn.

Young Life outreach has experienced steady growth since 1993, and in 2009-2010, Young Life had a record impact on more than 1.1 million middle school, high school and college-age kids both in the United States and around the world. In 2009, Young Life launched the Reaching a World of Kids initiative, with the goal of doubling the mission’s impact from one to two million kids a year. As part of this campaign, Denny is leading the mission to sustain and start new ministries in 8,000 locations worldwide, mobilize more than 80,000 leaders (staff, volunteers and committee) and increase camp capacity by upgrading existing facilities while developing new facilities both in the United States and overseas.

In 2011, Young Life will open Washington Family Ranch – Creekside (built near the original Washington Family Ranch) to serve our expanding ministry needs in the West. In the Southeast, Carolina Point is being built from the ground up to provide additional camping opportunities for our growing Eastern and Southern divisions. As Young Life expands to more than 65 countries around the world, so has the international camping program. In the years to come, Young Life plans to further develop camps and creative camping opportunities for kids in Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the countries of the Former Soviet Union.

Before joining Young Life, Denny served as director of university ministries at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Wash. He has also ministered on church staffs in Tacoma and San Diego. In addition, Denny has served as the vice president of Youth Specialties, director of operations for Inspirational Films and the editor of The Wittenburg Door. He has ministered as chaplain for the University of Washington basketball team and the Seattle Supersonics. Denny and his wife, Marilyn, have also been involved in the Women’s Professional Golf Fellowship — a ministry to professional female golfers on the LPGA tour.

Denny graduated from Seattle Pacific University in 1967. In 2000, he was named the Alumnus of the Year. He also attended graduate school at Western Washington University and is the author of 10 books.

Denny and Marilyn have four children: Heather, Josh, Jeremy and Jon, along with four grandchildren.