Ace Epps was born in Cleveland Ohio in 1970 and later moved to Akron, Ohio where he graduated from Bucthel High School. Active in the community as a poet and visual artist, Ace attended Kent State University from 1990-92 studying Pan African American history, creative writing and commercial art. It was there he was first asked to speak publicly. In 1993 Ace began doing talks and lectures about how art can be therapeutic around campus. He was received well and started to be booked by other social groups, fraternities and religious organizations. While combining poetry with social relevant topics Ace began traveling to other college campuses around the country with a message of social change through the arts. While speaking at a regional poetry venue Ace was recruited to be a facilitator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. In the late 1990’s Ace spent 2 years facilitating a workshop about the early influences of hip hop and how teachers can use this information to connect with their students more socially. In 2004 Ace took a job at the Oriana House, a local community based correctional facility. There he served as a recruitment assistant and resident supervisor where he worked with mental health, violent and nonviolent ex-offenders as well as dual diagnosed clients. He also became a facilitator for the Thinking for a Change curriculum (T4C). This is an evidenced based program that reduces recidivism by cognitively redirecting the behaviors of each participants. At the Akron Urban League in 2008, Ace served as a Job Developer and a Business Counselor. Ace is a certified facilitator for Ice House Entrepreneur Program . He also hosts a weekly radio show called Center Talks a partnership with WAKR 1590am and the Akron Urban League. On the Pod Bean online platform Ace produces local podcasters while hosting a weekly podcast of his own called Akron Community Voice . Ace has over 14 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector and in 2013 started an LLC called the Self Advancement Center (SAC). It is a shared workspace for artistic emerging entrepreneurs located in the Summit Artspace downtown Akron. At the SAC, Ace teaches job readiness training, soft skills and interviewing techniques. He also providing job placement and business training for would be business owners. Ace Epps is a business counselor who specializes in business creation and entrepreneur mindset development. From 2015 to 2019, Ace served as a Community Manager and Fellowship Director for Akron BMe Community. In 2018, he developed a new workforce development program and curriculum for a local nonprofit organization called OPEN M. Ace currently is the Director of Inclusive Entrepreneurship for an Akron based tech and non tech entrepreneur organization called Bounce innovation Hub.