The Power of Joy
Actress and entrepreneur TRACEE ELLIS ROSS explores joy as a radical and transformative force in a world often consumed by stress and expectations. Drawing on her personal experiences and professional experience, Ross reveals how cultivating joy can be an act of resistance, self-expression, and empowerment. Attendees will learn how to prioritize joy, find fulfillment in daily life, and harness joy’s power to inspire others.
The Wisdom of Fury
Anger, often dismissed or misunderstood, is a profound source of insight and strength.
Actress and entrepreneur TRACEE ELLIS ROSS redefines fury as a catalyst for change, sharing how to recognize its wisdom and use it to fuel personal and collective progress. With heartfelt anecdotes and actionable insights, she equips audiences to transform frustration into focus and passion into purpose.
Self-Love Through Entrepreneurship
As the founder of PATTERN Beauty, TRACEE ELLIS ROSS has built a brand celebrating authenticity and empowerment. In this talk, she discusses how entrepreneurship can be a powerful avenue for self-love and self-expression. She inspires audiences to honor their unique vision, embrace challenges, and create businesses that reflect their values while leaving a lasting impact.
Tracee Ellis Ross is an award-winning actress, producer, founder and CEO.
For eight seasons, Ross starred in ABC’s SAG and Critics Choice Award-nominated and Emmy, Golden Globe, NAACP Image Award and Peabody-winning comedy series black-ish. Ross has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including a Golden Globe Award, nine NAACP Image Awards, and the 2020 People’s Choice Awards “Fashion Icon Award.” She was named a Disney Legend for making an extraordinary contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Ross is the owner, founder, and co-CEO of PATTERN Beauty, the global multi-million dollar brand she created specifically for the curly, coily & tight-textured community in 2019. PATTERN is the #1 BIPOC brand and #2 curl brand sold at ULTA Beauty, Sephora, Nordstrom, Target, Macy’s, Amazon, and Thirteen Lune in the US; Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada; and Boots, Look Fantastic and Cult Beauty in the UK. PATTERN serves as an active space for the celebration of Black beauty and supports organizations and programs that empower women and people of color.
Ross is currently in pre-production on the Roku original series Tracee Travels. The series will chronicle Ross as she meticulously, laboriously, and sometimes ridiculously prepares for and travels solo to spectacular locations. Ross will serve as an Executive Producer on the docuseries under her banner Joy Mill Entertainment. Joy Mill Entertainment has a multi-year deal with ABC Signature and is dedicated to telling joyful, fun, and grounded stories exploring how we see ourselves and how we connect to one another.
Ross was last seen opposite Jeffrey Wright in the Oscar-winning drama American Fiction, directed by Cord Jefferson. It was nominated for Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Independent Spirit Awards, and was named one of AFI’s movies of the year.
Last December, Ross was seen starring opposite Eddie Murphy in Amazon’s holiday film, Candy Cane Lane. The film became the most-watched Amazon movie debut in the U.S. and among the top 10 worldwide film debuts ever on the service. Earlier this year, Ross starred in the thriller Cold Copy and is currently lending her voice to Amazon’s animated comedy The Second-Best Hospital in The Galaxy, alongside Keke Palmer, Kieran Culkin, Maya Rudolph, and Natasha Lyonne.
Ross advocates for joy, self-acceptance, inclusivity, and equity. In 2017, Ross gave a powerful speech about claiming your own life at Glamour’s Women of the Year Summit that went viral. In 2018, Ross opened the TED Conference, the first Black woman to do so, with a speech about the wisdom of women’s fury.
In 2022, Ross was given the “Racial Justice Trailblazer” Award by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for her demonstrated commitment to racial and social justice and upholding values that promote an inclusive democracy, and she moderated stops on both of Michelle Obama’s book tours. Ross recently received a 2023 Webby Special Achievement Award for her ingenious use of the Internet to share multidimensional stories of belonging, increasing Black representation in the beauty industry, and serving as a constant, positive force on the Internet, and was named a 2023 Cosmetic Executive Women Female Founder honoree. She was recently honored with the Trailblazer Award by 15 Percent Pledge, as a 2024 CNBC Changemaker, and was given the 2024 Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts by the National Museum of Women in the Arts for being a leader in the entertainment industry and a passionate advocate for gender equity.
Ross received honorary Doctorate degrees from Spelman College in 2023 and Brown University, her alma mater, in 2015.