Ellen DeGeneres keynote speaker

As a beloved television icon and entertainment pioneer, Ellen DeGeneres’ distinctive comedic voice has resonated with audiences from her first stand-up comedy appearance through her work today on television, in film, and in the literary world.

Ellen DeGeneres made a home for herself in daytime with her hit syndicated talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which ended in 2022 after an incredible nineteen seasons. As one of the longest running daytime television shows, it earned 64 Daytime Emmy® Awards, including 12 for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show, crowning it the record holder in this category. DeGeneres has also won 12 Teen Choice Awards, five Kids’ Choice Awards, and 24 People’s Choice Awards, making her the most decorated individual in the franchise’s 45-year history.

DeGeneres continues to shine as a powerhouse in the digital space. She has an impressive reach of over 300 million social followers, with over 20 million new followers and 4 billion views in the past year. Ellen’s games business continues to impress and grow with properties like Head’s Up. The game, with over 70 million downloads, has been played over 2 billion times and has been Apple’s top-paid App for 7 consecutive years, the longest-running in its history.

In November 2016, DeGeneres was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The prestigious award is the nation’s highest civilian honor bestowed on DeGeneres by President Obama for her extraordinary contributions to notable change and progress in the United States. Most recently, DeGeneres received the Carol Burnett Award at the 77th Golden Globe Awards in 2020, the second recipient to be honored with the accolade following its namesake, Carol Burnett. She was also presented with the 15^th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in October 2012.

DeGeneres had the honor of hosting the highly rated 79th Annual Academy Awards® in 2007, securing her a Primetime Emmy® Award nomination in the Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program category. In 2014, DeGeneres hosted the 86th Annual Academy Awards, drawing the telecast’s largest audience in 14 years, and most famously broke the Internet with her star-studded selfie.

DeGeneres also received critical success for her HBO stand-up specials: “The Beginning,” earning two Primetime Emmy nominations in 2001, and “Here and Now,” nominated for two Primetime Emmys in 2004. In 2018, DeGeneres returned to her stand-up comedy roots after a 15-year hiatus with a critically acclaimed Netflix comedy special, “Relatable,” which secured her a 2020 Grammy Award nomination.

DeGeneres’ production company, A Very Good Production (AVGP), has produced a wide range of television including several unscripted series on NBC such as fan-favorite game show, “Ellen’s Game of Games,” and holiday special, “Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways” – both hosted by DeGeneres – and the hit series “Little Big Shots.” AVGP also produced the Daytime Emmy Award-winning “Green Eggs and Ham” for Netflix, “Wildlife Warriors” for Discovery Channel, and many more. In September 2019, DeGeneres announced HBO Max ordered four original series, including “Ellen’s Next Great Designer,” “First Dates Hotel,” “Little Ellen,” and “Finding Einstein” docu-series.

In recent deal with Discovery, DeGeneres produced two projects that included the documentary, Endangered, which aired in April 2021 and Saving the Gorillas: Ellen’s Next Adventure which aired in September 2023.

DeGeneres has found success in feature films, scoring an unprecedented popular and critical response to her character Dory in the blockbuster animated feature “Finding Nemo.” The highly anticipated sequel, “Finding Dory,” was released in June 2016 and set the record for the highest-grossing animated film debut at the domestic box office and surpassed the billion-dollar global box office mark.

An accomplished best-selling author, DeGeneres released her first home design book, “HOME,” in Fall 2015. Additionally, DeGeneres has had three best-selling books: “Seriously…I’m Kidding,” which includes a compilation of comedic observations, quotes, and stories from her life, “The Funny Thing Is…,” and “My Point…And I Do Have One.” “The Funny Thing Is…” and “Seriously…I’m Kidding” both secured DeGeneres a Grammy Award nomination in 2004 and 2012.

DeGeneres launched ED by Ellen a lifestyle brand inspired by her iconic style, values, and personality, featuring various product categories. In March 2017, ED launched a collection of rugs and tabletop in collaboration with Loloi, and Royal Doulton, respectively. Over the past few years, DeGeneres expanded her home line with an extensive lighting collection in collaboration with Generation Lighting, a handcrafted furniture collection in partnership with EJ Victor, and a partnership with Chasing Paper to launch a peel-and-stick and traditional wallpaper collection. ED is available on the brand’s flagship e-commerce site, EDbyEllen.com.

DeGeneres launched Kind Science in 2021, a direct-to-consumer, high-performance skincare line that provides age-positive results, available at KindScience.com.

DeGeneres’ career began as an emcee at a local comedy club in her hometown of New Orleans. Her acting career in television includes several successful sitcoms before being offered a part in “These Friends of Mine” by ABC, later renamed “Ellen” following the first season. Running from 1994 to 1998, the show garnered record ratings with DeGeneres receiving Primetime Emmy nominations each season in the Best Actress category. In 1997, DeGeneres was the recipient of the coveted Peabody Award and earned a Primetime Emmy Award for writing the critically acclaimed “Puppy Episode” where her character came out as a gay woman to a record 46 million viewers.

Both on and off-screen, DeGeneres’ humanitarian efforts take center stage. In 2018, DeGeneres established The Ellen Fund, which supports global conservation efforts for critically endangered species.  The first initiative of the fund was The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund which finally opened in February 2022 outside Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Ellen and her show gave away almost half a billion dollars to various causes and people in need over the course of its 19 years on the air.