Angelica Ross

Angelica Ross is an American actress, businesswoman, and transgender rights advocate born on November 28, 1980, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and raised in nearby Racine. A self-taught programmer and graphic designer, she went on to found TransTech Social Enterprises and made history in 2022 as the first transgender woman to play a leading role on Broadway.

Ross attended the University of Wisconsin–Parkside briefly before leaving after one semester. She subsequently joined the U.S. Navy after her parents signed a waiver permitting her to enlist as a minor, with the intention of qualifying for the G.I. Bill. She was stationed in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, but received an uncharacterized discharge after six months of service under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, following harassment by enlisted men who coerced her into declaring she was gay. After returning home, she began her gender transition at age 19 with the support of a drag queen named Traci Ross. She later relocated to Roanoke, Virginia, where she spent six years working as a waitress at Applebee's while attending cosmetology school. She subsequently moved to Hollywood, Florida, working as a model, escort, and web manager until 2003, during which time she also started a web development and graphic design business and took acting classes. She later moved to Chicago, where she served as employment coordinator for the Trans Life Center.

Ross made her acting debut in the 2005 comedy film Natale a Miami, followed by a role in the 2010 short film Bella Maddo. Her profile rose considerably in 2016 when she starred in Her Story, a web series about transgender women in Los Angeles that earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama. In 2017, she made guest appearances on the CBS legal drama Doubt, the TNT series Claws, and the Amazon Prime Video series Transparent. That same year she executive produced and starred in the short film Missed Connections, which was selected for Outfest 2017, the Baltimore International Black Film Festival, the La Femme International Film Festival, and the Outflix Film Festival in Memphis, Tennessee. She also provided voice work for the Amazon Video animated series Danger and Eggs in June 2017.

Ross achieved a breakthrough in 2018 with her starring role as Candy Ferocity in Ryan Murphy's FX drama series Pose, which ran from 2018 to 2021. She followed that with a series regular role as psychologist Donna Chambers in the FX anthology horror series American Horror Story: 1984, making her the first transgender actress to hold two series regular roles simultaneously. She returned as a series regular for the show's tenth season in 2021. In 2020, she signed a deal with Pigeon to develop television projects, and in 2022 she appeared in the film Framing Agnes, portraying a transgender woman named Georgia.

Ross made her Broadway debut in the musical Chicago, playing Roxie Hart in a limited engagement that ran from September 12 to November 6, 2022. The role marked the first time a transgender woman had played a leading role on Broadway. The production represented a significant milestone in a career that had already included multiple television firsts.

In parallel with her acting work, Ross built a career in technology and entrepreneurship. She taught herself coding, web management, graphic design, and photography, and was later hired by Chicago House's TransLife Center to focus on employment coordination and program development. In 2014, she founded TransTech Social Enterprises, a nonprofit creative design firm that trains and contracts transgender and other workers, serving as its CEO. Melissa Harris-Perry named Ross the first Foot Soldier of the Year on her show in 2015, and MSNBC aired a documentary about the firm. Ross returned as head of TransTech in 2024, succeeding outgoing Executive Director E.C. Pizarro III. She is also president of Miss Ross, Inc. and founded the TransTech Summit. In 2015, she was a featured speaker at the White House LGBTQ Tech and Innovation Summit.

Ross has been active in transgender advocacy beyond her professional work. She served as a celebrity ambassador to the 50th Anniversary Stonewall celebration in June 2019 and hosted the 2020 Presidential Candidate Forum on LGBTQ Issues on September 20, 2019, becoming the first openly transgender person to host an American presidential forum. On September 28, 2019, she spoke at the National Trans Visibility March in Washington, D.C. In January 2024, she launched a weekly podcast titled N.O.W.: No Opportunity Wasted. In February 2026, she became communications director for the Butch Ware campaign for governor of California. Ross is a practicing Buddhist.