Maria Ross, Empathy Advocate, Keynote/Workshop Speaker, Author, and Podcaster. Maria Ross is a speaker, facilitator, author, and empathy advocate who believes cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. She’s spent decades helping forward-thinking leaders and teams connect and engage through empathy to accelerate growth and impact. Maria has authored multiple books, including her most recent title, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success, and also hosts The Empathy Edge podcast.

Maria understands the power of empathy on the brand and personal levels: In 2008, shortly after launching her business, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that almost killed her and inspired her memoir, Rebooting My Brain. In it, she explores the critical importance of empathy in healing and overcoming adversity. Her next book The Empathy Dilemma: How Successful Leaders Balance Performance, People, and Personal Boundaries, arrives on shelves in Fall 2024.

Maria has appeared in many prominent media outlets, including MSNBC, NPR, Wisdom from the Top with Guy Raz (NPR), Forbes.com, ABC News, Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. She has spoken to audiences ranging from TEDx to The New York Times to Salesforce to the 3% Conference. Her thought leadership writing has appeared in multiple publications including Entrepreneur.com, Newsweek, and Huffington Post. Maria lives in the San Francisco Bay Area
with her husband and young son and serves clients worldwide.