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Kevin Kitrell Ross (born April 2nd, 1974) is a spiritual leader, social justice activist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, podcast host, author, and American religious scholar. He is the Senior Minister and CEO of Unity of Sacramento, an inclusive spiritual community, based on the teachings of Jesus, that is a member of the New Thought movement. He is known by the affectionate moniker “Rev Kev.”

Early Life

Ross was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. He is the son of Michael and Janice Tayborn Ross. Despite experiencing the divorce of his parents and the resulting economic hardships, he was fortunate to have his maternal grandparents, the late John H. Tayborn, Sr., and Joyce Collette Tayborn to assist his mother in rearing him and his two younger brothers, Michael and Timothy. His mentors include the late John Houston Tayborn (his maternal grandfather), the late Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon, the late Reverend Dr. Frederick Joseph Eikerenkoetter (Reverend Ike), the Reverend Dean Lawrence Edward Carter,Sr., and the Reverend Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith. He has also been greatly influenced by the contributions of Harvard faculty, including the late Rev.Dr. Peter Gomes, who initially recruited him to Harvard, Dr. Melissa Wood Bartholomew, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, and Dr. Teddy Hickman-Maynard, Associate Dean of Ministry Studies.

Career Ross started his career as a youth motivational speaker at the age of 13, under the tutelage of the legendary motivational speaker, Les Brown. He founded The Brothers of Thunder with his childhood best friend, Dr. David Earthell Montgomery. As teens the two traveled the nation speaking for conferences, churches, colleges and conventions, inspiring young audiences to stay off drugs, pursue higher education and to strive to live their boldest dreams. His first professional appointment began as the Youth Minister of the Universal Truth Center in Miami, Florida. In 2002, Ross was the first person to ever be ordained in the historic Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College. Since then he has pastored congregations in Kansas City and Sacramento. He began his current position as the Senior Minister/ CEO of Unity of Sacramento in 2010.

Activism Ross’ activism has placed him on the front lines of some of the most pressing civil and human rights struggles. He was among the faith leaders to be arrested while challenging the decision not to prosecute the law enforcement officers who killed an unarmed African American man Stephon Clark, in Sacramento.Together, with a broad coalition of leaders and community, Ross was influential in the passage of AB 392, “The Stephon Clark Law”; which is now the strictest police use of force law in the US. He also took to the front lines with faith leaders from PICO California and an estimated 1,000 of protesters at the United States’ southern border to demand that children be released from cages and be reunited with their families. He also participated in a historic press conference and lawsuit by the Council for American Islamic Relations that resulted in the Muslim travel ban being temporarily lifted in order to allow a Yemeni mother to be reunited with her dying son in a San Francisco hospital.

He is a Senior Fellow of the Mountain-Valley Chapter of the American Leadership Forum,  a member of the Executive Council of the Association for Global New Thought and a former Board member and faith leader with  Sacramento Area Congregations Together. He is a five-time delegate and presenter to the Parliament of the World’s Religions (Parliament). At the 1999 Parliament, in Cape Town, South Africa, Ross joined other faith leaders from the Association for Global New Thought in presenting the Gandhi-King Season for Non-violence Award to former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Ross’ bridge-building work has taken him to five continents around the world. He chronicled his 2020 service pilgrimage to Tanzania and Zanzibar with the documentary short, Mission Tanzania: An Ecotouristic  Pilgrimage in Spirt, Service and Safari. The documentary was featured at the 2023 Harvard Divinity School Film Festival.

In service to the world’s children, traumatized by the pandemic, Ross created the online social media character, “Khavon ”, to support children and families with building resilience through crisis and difficult times. Khavon’s popularity has attracted local and national media attention, including being featured in ABC and Fox news stories, as well as being included in “godTalk ” the Movie, which premiered in October of 2023 at the Smithsonian African American Museum of History and Culture.

In 2022 with generous support from Unity Worldwide Ministries and the Helping Unity Grow grant (HUG grant), Ross founded, Just Us Unity Campus Justice Ministry for Gamechangers and Peace Makers at Harvard University. In February of 2024, in partnership with the Office of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, Just Us Unity Campus Ministries launched “Public Courage and the Academy” Lecture Series:  A Speaker Series for Public Courage and Social Change. The series features lectures and interviews with prominent faith leaders and religious actors who have found meaningful on-ramps that move beyond dangerous political neutrality that exercise public courage to make social change. Ross is the facilitator and host of this hybrid series.

Education Ross attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA., where he graduated in 1999 earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Studies. He earned a Certificate of Ordination from the Power Circle Institute in Chicago in 2002 and earned a Certificate of Ordination from Unity Worldwide Ministries in 2014. Ross earned a Master of Religion and Public Life degree (MRPL) from Harvard Divinity School in 2023. He also was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Trinity International University of Ambassadors in 2023. During his time as a graduate student at Harvard, Ross gave several addresses at the morning prayer service held at historic Appleton Chapel located inside Harvard Memorial Church. At his first address in October of 2022 he gave an interpolation to the Serenity Prayer first coined by Reinhold Niebuhr, instead challenging “Harvard to change the things it must.”

Popular Culture Ross has been featured in three films and national television across America. In 2023, Ross was interviewed and included in the movie, godTalk which premiered at the Smithsonian African American Museum of History and Culture. In June of 2023, Ross earned voiceover credits in The Long Weekend: a documentary about John Lennon and Mai Vang. Ross has also appeared in two Oprah Winfrey Show Specials. In May 2011, Ross appeared in Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular, where he paid tribute to Oprah upon ending her 25 year historic Oprah Winfrey Show. In 2020 Ross appeared in the “Queen Sugar” Season Finale, presented by the Oprah Winfrey Network. In June of 2017 Ross’s Opening Prayer for the United States House of Representative aired nationwide on CSPAN. Additionally, in 2012, along with Beyond Words publishing Ross is the Executive Produced and hosted, Liberate Your Spirit DVD, featuring interviews with the Reverends Michael Bernard Beckwith, James Trapp and Chris Michaels.

At the behest of his Harvard colleague Austin Bogues and In an effort to create a space of community and belonging for people who may have difficulty coming together with others across racial, ethnic, gender, culture, orientation and religious lines, in January of 2023, Ross began hosting a Spades Card game  for Harvard University affiliates. Today “Spades University” is a diverse community of the most brilliant minds, committed to building Dr. King’s Beloved Community, one hand at a time.

Awards Ross has received numerous awards including the Howard Swearer Student Humanitarian Award. He is a 2002 inductee into the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Clergy Hall of Honor at Morehouse College. He is the receipient of the Heritage Crest Visionary of Unity Award, presented at the Anacotia Musem of the Smithsonian. In 1998, Ross received this honor with other noted African American leaders including Xernona Clayton and Martin Luther King, III. Ross is a two-term Americorps Scholar. In 2020 Ross was presented with the Social Justice Leader of the Year Award by Apha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.

Writings

Hug Your Children (a children’s book), Kevin Kitrell Ross, Illustrated by Hallinson Pullido. Mynd Matters Publications, 2022.

Breathing Space: 52 Week Meditation Journey for Centered, Soulful, and Successful Living. Kevin Kitrell Ross and Eric Ovid Donaldson, Mynd Matters Publishing, 2021.

The Optimistic Seed: A Story of Resilience (a children’s book), Kevin Kitrell Ross, Illustrated by Hallinson Pullido. Mynd Matters Publications, 2020.

Courageous Conversations Journal: A Journal for Passionate, Purposeful, and Powerful Living, Kevin Kitrell Ross, Mynd Matters Publishing, 2021.

Birthing, Building, and Becoming the Beloved Community: Guide for Spiritual Living, Kevin Kitrell Ross, 2021.

Truth Crushed to the Ground Will Rise Again, United Religions Initiative, Kevin Kitrell Ross, 2016.

“Live Your Boldest Dream,” Daily Word, Kevin Kitrell Ross, July 2013: http://www.dailyword.com/articles/2013/06/live-your-boldest-dream

The Designer Life: Distinctions for Living Life By Design and Not By Default, Kevin Kitrell Ross, April 2012

Personal Life Ross has been married since 2007 to Anita Ross (Ristorucci). The couple resides in Elk Grove, California. They have three children.