Matt Ross is an entrepreneur, author, and media executive with nearly 30 years of experience building businesses that inspire passion and creativity. From rocking New York’s airwaves to scaling global education brands, he’s spent his career blending business savvy with a passion for the arts. Now, he is the author of Grow or Fold, a profound story of awakening your enthusiasm for growth with a call to action to transform yourself in midlife and beyond.

Since 2012, Matt has been the Founder and CEO of One River School, a company whose mission is to “Transform Art Education®.” Today, One River School operates fifteen schools in six states with plans for substantial growth over the next five years. In 2005, Matt invested in and became the CEO of School of Rock, and turned a struggling music education startup into a dominant brand. Under his leadership, the company grew from 5 to 55 locations, while securing commitments for another 50 locations. In 2009, he engineered a sale of majority ownership to Sterling Capital and stayed on as an investor and multi-unit franchise operator until its sale to Roark Capital in 2023.

From 1989 to 2005, Matt led some of the most important radio brands, including: Q104.3, New York’s Classic Rock Station, and Hot 97, New York’s Hip Hop Station. Matt was featured in Crain’s New York Business’ “40 Under 40” and is responsible for increasing shareholder value by billions of dollars for Clear Channel, Viacom, Emmis, and Broadcasting Partners Inc.

Matt holds an MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at NYU and is a cum laude graduate in Marketing from SUNY Albany. He is also a former member of the Board of Trustees for Art 21 and the Bergen Performing Arts Center.

His advocacy efforts focus on two main areas: supporting organizations that build communities for adults with autism, such as Reed Autism Services and United Way of Bergen County, and championing artists and arts-based organizations. Along the way, he has also built a personal collection of contemporary art that now includes over 400 artworks from more than 100 artists.