Kevin Kitrell Ross is an interfaith social justice leader, religious scholar and humanitarian on a  mission to build bridges of understanding and deepen human engagement by inspiring everyday people and faith and political leaders to transcend dangerous binaries and polarization to cocreate a world that works for all. This mission has taken him around the world both learning from and serving as a  thought leader, keynote speaker, moderator, panelist, author, podcast talk show host, spiritual advisor and social entrepreneur committed to fostering creative approaches to engage diverse leaders in building authentic lasting connections that lead to significant spiritual and social change.

Ross has also served for 14 years as  the Senior Minister  and Chief Executive Officer of Unity of Sacramento church — one of California’s most diverse, integrated and socially engaged congregations. Ross has earned a reputation as a compassionate, bridge-builder who has worked nationally and internationally to heal the widening global racial and religious gap through education, dialogue and direct encounter – including co-facilitating a Civil Rights Pilgrimage of the Southern United States with civic, political, and faith leaders, sponsored by Solano College.  A moving highlight of the pilgrimage was tracing the steps of the late Congressman John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Ross’ activism has placed him on the front lines of some of our nation’s 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’s voice was influential in the passage of AB392, “The Stephon Clark Law”; which is now the strictest police use of force law in the United States.  He was also included in a New York Times article for negotiating a peaceful standoff between protestors and police officers in a heated Sacramento City Council meeting.  Ross took to the front lines again with over 1000 other protesters and faith leaders, at the United States’  southern border to demand that children be released from cages and be reunited with their families.  And he was instrumental in having the Muslim travel ban temporarily lifted in order to allow a Yemeni mother to be reunited with her dying son in a San Francisco hospital.

Ross has shared the stage with luminaries ranging from Coretta Scott King, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Ella Gandhi, Dr. Cornell West, Marianne Williamson and Vice President Kamala Harris.  And at the invitation of Congressman Ami Bera, Rev. Ross opened a session of the United States House of Representatives with a prayer for the nation, in the Capitol Rotunda.  He also moderated a Senatorial Community Hall event at the request of then-Senator Kamala D. Harris.

He is a Senior Fellow of the Mountain-Valley Chapter of the  American Leadership Forum, a member of Sacramento Area Congregations Together, and  a five-time delegate and presenter to the Parliament of the World’s Religions.  

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

Ross,earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from Morehouse College, a Master of Religion and Public Life degree from Harvard Divinity School, and he has been twice ordained and he recently received his first honorary Doctorate of Divinity Degree in 2023 from Trinity International University of Ambassadors, an affiliate organization of the United Nations. 

In 2023 at Harvard Divinity School, Ross created and led the popular lecture series, “Public Courage and the Academy”, which served as a Master Class for students and credentialed faith leaders to provide them with tools for moving beyond dangerous political neutrality to becoming engaged social change agents.  

Rev. Kev, as he is affectionately called,  has received numerous honors, including being inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Clergy Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.  He is also the recipient of the prestigious Howard Swearer Student Humanitarian Award, presented at Tufts University by 100 College Presidents.  He has appeared in two Oprah Winfrey Show specials and numerous national print publications, including being featured in Ebony, New York Times and Time.com magazine.  He considers among his highest honors, being included in a delegation from the Season for Nonviolence, who had a private audience with and  presented former South African President, Nelson Mandela with the Gandhi-King Award for Nonviolence in Cape Town, South Africa in 1999.

Ross has authored numerous books, including The Designer Life:  Distinctions for Living Life By Design and Not by Default, and  Breathing Space:  A 52 Week Meditation Journey for Centered, Soulful and Successful Living.  He has also written two children’s books, The Optimistic Seed:  A Story of Resilience and Hug Your Children.  In service to the world’s children, traumatized by the pandemic, Rev. Kev 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, the first feature length film released by the Smithsonian African American Museum of History and Culture.  This December Ross will receive the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by The Points of Light Foundation on behalf of President Joseph R. Biden for his decades of community service to the United States of America.  He is driven by a deep desire to remake the world in such a way that his three children can grow up having every chance of pursuing their boldest dreams and reaching their highest potential.