Eric Ellis was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1961. He grew up in Dayton, Ohio and moved to a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio when he was eight years old. His mother was a preacher, and his father was a psychologist who founded a diversity training company in the 1970s. Eric interned in his father's company, where he was first exposed to the world of Diversity Management. Eric founded his Management Consulting company, Integrity Development, in 1991. He has trained thousands of employees in America's leading organizations in the area of Diversity and Inclusion.
Eric and his wife, Judy, live in West Chester, Ohio with their four children. Eric is very interested and involved in youth sports and music. He is an assistant basketball coach at a local high school and founded a music company, Positive Message Music, to create more positive lyrics in popular music.