America Ferrera keynote speaker

America Ferrera is an award-winning actor, director, and producer known for her many iconic roles in TV and film including Ugly Betty, Real Women Have Curves, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Superstore, and most recently Greta Gerwig’s history-making Barbie, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. For her breakthrough performance in Ugly Betty, Ferrera was awarded an Emmy, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe, as well as ALMA and Imagen Awards. In addition to being nominated for an Academy Award for her powerful performance as “Gloria,” she was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for “Best Supporting Actress”, and was honored with the 8th Annual SeeHer Award by the same group.

Released in theaters on July 21, Barbie has broken countless box office records, with a domestic opening of over $214M and over $470M worldwide. The film, since its opening, has recorded a $1.5 billion dollar box office and was the highest-grossing film of 2023.

Ferrera can also be seen in Dumb Money, a 2023 Sony and Black Bear Pictures’ dramedy directed by Craig Gillespie, based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Antisocial Network, also starring Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Shailene Woodley, Anthony Ramos, Dane DeHaan, and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and had a wide release on September 29th.

Subsequently, Ferrera will make her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Erika Sánchez’s New York Times bestselling novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter which is currently in development at MGM/Orion Pictures. IS THIS CURRENT/UPDATED? The film, written by Linda Yvette-Chavez tells the story of Julia Reyes, a sharp-tongued teen with dreams of becoming a famous writer somewhere far away from Chicago and her traditional Mexican immigrant parents who wish she was more like Olga, her sister, now eternally perfect since her tragic death. As Julia seeks to break free of her oppressive home, she tries to uncover her sister’s truth, and in the process gains a deep understanding of the wounds her family carries.

In January 2022, Ferrera was announced as the face of Covergirl’s “Fresh Clean Skincare” collection, the company’s first clean, vegan skincare line.

Ferrera starred in the Apple TV+ series, WeCrashed opposite Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway. In the series, Ferrera plays Elishia Kennedy, a successful CEO and entrepreneur who is conned into leaving her own company and joining WeWork but is eventually pushed out.

Ferrera executive produced and directed episodes for two seasons of Netflix’s hit Dramedy, Gentefied. The series follows three Mexican American cousins and their struggle to chase the American Dream.

She also executive produced, directed, and starred in NBC’s beloved workplace comedy, Superstore, which ended its six-season run on March 25, 2021.

In July of 2020, Ferrera was announced as a Founding Investor of Angel City Football Club, a National Women's Soccer League team representing her hometown, Los Angeles, California.

A longtime activist, Ferrera launched Poderistas in 2020 alongside 9 other prominent activists, leaders, and businesswomen, including Eva Longoria Bastón and Christy Haubegger. Poderistas is a digital lifestyle community and non-profit built to inform, affirm, and inspire Latinas to leverage their power and transform their lives, their community, and their nation.

Ferrera is also a prolific speaker having spoken at major events such as TED, the DNC, and March for Our Lives. She was also the opening speaker and chair of the Artists’ Committee for the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. Her activism has extended on screen in several television documentaries including Not Done: Women Remaking America for PBS, the EPIX TV mini-series, America Divided, Showtime’s groundbreaking documentary, The Years of Living Dangerously, and Nicholas Kristof’s series for PBS Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

In 2016, Ferrera co-founded HARNESS, with her husband Ryan Piers Williams and friend Wilmer Valderrama. HARNESS is a community of artists, influencers, and grassroots leaders leveraging art and storytelling to power change and create a more equitable world.

Ferrera released her first book, American Like Me, which landed on the New York Times best-seller list. It is a vibrant and varied collection of first-person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures in America. Curated and edited by Ferrera, the anthology includes essays that share her own perspective of growing up as the daughter of Honduran immigrants in Los Angeles. Contributors to the book include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Roxane Gay, Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani, Congressman Joaquin Castro, Kal Penn, Uzo Aduba, Jenny Zhang, Michelle Kwan, Padma Lakshmi and many others.

Some of Ferrera’s television and film credits include Real Women Have Curves; Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (parts 1 and 2); Diego Luna’s biopic, Cesar Chavez, (ALMA Award Special Achievement in Film); Ryan Piers Williams' The Dry Land, (Best International Film Edinburgh Film Festival); Ryan Piers Williams’ drama X/Y, which she co-produced and starred in; David Ayer’s crime thriller End of Watch; Ricky Gervais’ Special Correspondents; It’s a Disaster; Lords of Dogtown; and How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, among many others. She lends her vocal talents to the Oscar-nominated franchise film How to Train Your Dragon as Astrid.

On stage, she has appeared off-Broadway in Terrence McNally’s Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Laura Marks’ Bethany; and Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, directed by Trip Cullman. She graced the stage as Roxie Hart in the West End production of the hit musical, Chicago.

In 2006, Ferrera founded her own television and film production company, Take Fountain.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ferrera is the youngest of six children. As a graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrera studied International Relations while pursuing her film and television career. She currently resides in New York City with her husband and two children.